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I 


“MESSENGER” SERIES, No. 2. 



Simon Peter 

AND 

SIMON MAGUS. 



OP THE 

EARLY DAYS OF CHRISTIANITY IN ROME. 


By Rev. JOHN JOSEPH FRANCO, S. J. 



PETER F. CUNNINGHAM, PUBLISHER, 
216 South Third Street, 

1871. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, by 
PETER F. CUNNINGHAM, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 


/ 



INT R 0 D UGTION . 

f HERE are two cities whose names have 
been, for so many ages, associated with 
all the greatest events society has wit- 
nessed, that to study their history is to study 
the history of mankind — Jerusalem, the “ Holy 
City,” and the “ Eternal City,” Rome. No 
other cities have held the same relations to 
God and man. Within their bounds have 
sprung up and thence gone forth as a mighty 
river, deep and strong, to the very ends of 
the earth, the grandest evolutions in human 
thought and human feeling that the world has 
ever seen, or will ever again behold. 


IV 


Introduction. 


It was in the Holy City, amid the throng 
which came up to it from every part of Judea, 
that He once moved who spoke as never man 
spoke, and wrought wonders such as the 
world had never before witnessed: He who 
looked upon the beauty of its courts, and 
wept for the desolation that was to come upon 
them: He who went forth from it bearing 
His cross, and within sight of its temples and 
its palaces, consummated the redemption of 
the human race. 

So, from the Eternal City, while she was 
yet mistress of the Pagan world, went forth 
by the Ostian Gate, on the memorable 29th 
of June, A.D. 65, two of the most illustrious 
followers of that Divine Master, to lay down 
their lives for the faith which Rome hated, 
but which was to make Rome the capital of 
God’s earthly kingdom : to die for that Church 
“which is before all time, fills all time, and 


Introduction . 


v 


after all time will still live on to fill eternity.” 
They were 

“ Ecclesiarum Principes, 

Belli triumphales Duces,” 

chiefs of the Church, leaders in the warfare 
against the powers of darkness. They were, 
amidst Rome’s myriad martyrs, the two whose 
memory was to leave the deepest impress on 
the minds of men in connection with her 
Christian history, and to be perpetuated on 
the soil itself by the noblest monument ever 
raised by the hand of man. 

Such were Peter and Paul, the founders of 
Christian Rome — Rome, “ the city of the soul,” 
whom her former sons proudly called “the 
light of the universe and the citadel of all 
nations.” Thus, in the affections of mankind, 
do Rome and Jerusalem take part together, 
the two cities of the world of whom it has 


m 


Introduction . 


been said, they “sum up within themselves 
the destines of mankind.” 

Of all the myriads passing to and fro, 
amidst whom the Fisherman of Galilee made 
his way when he entered Rome, A.D. 40, 
about twelve years after the crucifixion and 
death of our Redeemer, how few, if even one, 
could have conceived the lofty mission in life 
and in death that was to be fulfilled by that 
obscure Jewish stranger! This little volume 
will develop all. The intrinsic interest the 
subject possesses for every Catholic Christian 
is heightened in these pages by the charms of 
the narrative itself, and by the treasures of 
historical and archaeological learning by which 
it is enriched. It reads rather like a history 
set down by an eye-witness, than one compiled 
in these later days from fragmentary records 
and *the few traditions which have survived 
the days of Peter and Paul. It may be said 


Introduction . 


vii 

of it, “ They who do not love Rome will not 
understand it. They who do understand it, 
will love Rome the more. ,, 

This volume forms the second of the series 
of republications (of which “ Leandro ; or, the 
Sign of the Cross,” was the first,) from the 
Messenger of the Sacred Heart.* 

* Rev. B. Sestini, S. J., Editor, Woodstock, Howard Co., 
Maryland. 





C 0 N T E N T S. 


CHAPTER I. page 

The Faithful of Rome 11 

CHAPTER II. 

The Heathens of Rome 27 

CHAPTER III. 

Roman Piety in the Days of Peter and Paul 47 

CHAPTER IV. 

The Struggle 74 

CHAPTER V. 

The Accusation before Nero 99 

CHAPTER VI. 

Trepidation 113 

CHAPTER VII. 

A Flight and a Fall. 135 

CHAPTER VIII. 


The Last Words of Peter in the Mamertine Prison... 150 


CHAPTER IX. 

The Last Days of Peter and Paul 181 

CHAPTER X. 

The Triumph of the Apostles 208 

CHAPTER XI. 

The Glorious Sepulchre 229 



SIMON PETER AND SIMON MAGUS. 

& 3 e 0 f n d . 

CHAPTER I. 

THE FAITHFUL OF ROME. 

T was a beautiful morning, in early spring ; the 
sun, rising majestically over the Tiburtine hills, 
gave life and beauty to the valley of the Anio, 
bathing in light the green slopes of Tusculum, 
darting his rays in the midst of Rome’s proud 
splendors, and lighting up the old Patrician Street, 
at the foot of the hill whereon now stands St. Mary 
Major. Here, in the days of king Servius Tullius, 
rose the modest dwellings of the Roman Patricians ; 
but in the time of Nero’s reign, not only the little 
suburb, but the whole quarter called the Esquiline, 
had become a scene of pride, luxury and ostenta- 
tion. For here the visitors from the Provinces who 

1 1 




12 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

— — 

had no claim on private hospitality in the great 
Capital, found the crowded and noisy taverns which 
abounded in this suburb ; close to these taverns 
stood the palaces, which were overshadowed by great 
temples, and these, in turn, were surrounded by 
splendid baths and basilicas, by spacious squares, 
noble aqueducts and public markets ; near by, too, 
were the gardens of Maecenas blooming on the 
spot where once was the burying-place of the Ple- 
beians ; and the pleasure-grounds of informers 
enriched by the Caesars, and of freedmen but yester- 
day raised from the mire. It was the hour of the 
morning salutation, when throngs of servile clients 
might be seen crowding, pushing and elbowing one 
another in the vestibules of the wealthy citizens. 
The courts of the more magnificent lodgings 
swarmed with this class of beggars, in their best 
attire ; several servants were moving about among 
them with insolent arrogance, stopping here and 
there to make seemly some well-worn toga, and 
dividing the unfortunate clients into various classes, 
as friends of the first, second or third audience. 
Meanwhile, the dole-baskets were preparing in the 
adjoining dining-hall, generously or scantily fur- 
nished, according to the degree of favor enjoyed 
by the intended recipient ; while the wealthy patron, 
little caring to be disturbed by this too-early saluta- 


The Faithful of Rome. 


13 


tion of his friends in the atrium, was still in bed 
sleeping off the fumes of last night’s carouse. 

Far different was the scene in the palace of the 
Senator Cornelius Pudens,* though here too the 
vestibule was thronged by numerous clients. Here 
no slave, chained to the doorway, threatened the 
visitor with his knotted club ; nor was the ear 
startled by the scarcely more fierce mastiff which 
growled at the fierce or ill-favored fellow-doorkeeper. 
But the clients, though poor and but scantily 
furnished in dress, crossed the threshold without 
fear, and were received with true dignity and 
grandeur ; and the needy plebeian who came in his 
poor working tunic, went away with his basket 
generously filled, far oftener than did the fawning 
flatterers of other wealthy patrons. This was 
especially the case when the two piqus daughters 
of the Senator came down to take part in the work 
of making up the baskets. Praxedes and Pudentiana 


* “ Salutant te Eubulus, et Pudens, et Linus, et Claudia ” 
II. Tim. iv. 21. Concerning this Pudens, and the others of 
whom St. Paul makes mention, when writing from Rome 
shortly before his martyrdom, we have adopted the ancient and 
commonly received tradition. Vid. Baron. Ann. 44, No. 61. 
Ann. 57, No. 101. Ann. 59, No. 18. This tradition is favored 
also by learned writers of a later date, among others may be 
mentioned Reumont, " Geschichte d.er Stadt Rorji,” Berlin, 1867, 
8vo. Part I. p. 360, 


14 Simon Peter and Simon Magus. 

were, with their parents, Pudens and Claudia, 
among the fairest and most flourishing plants of the 
Church’s garden, raised by the care of the Apostle 
Peter. 

While the Senator was moving about the atrium, 
shaking hands or exchanging greetings with his 
clients, with more of the affectionate tenderness of a 
brother than the proud reserve of the Roman patron, 
a courier, who had just dismounted in the court- 
yard, before the atrium, where rose the statue of 
Pudens, called out to the porter : “ Is your master 
at home ?” 

“Yes,” replied the slave; “there he is with his 
friends, within.” 

The courier approached the Senator, and pausing 
at a respectful distance addressed him with the 
greatest deference : “ Most excellent Cornelius 
Pudens : letters from Asia.” And he handed him a 
sealed package. The Senator looked at the seal, 
which represented a shepherd bearing a lamb upon 
his shoulders. Without making any other reply, he 
turned to the freedman who stood at his side, and 
tapping him upon the shoulder, whispered into his 
ear : “ He is one of ours ; call Claudia and see that 
he be attended to.” And giving him the packet he 
motioned to them both to pass into the tablinum or 
muniment-room, which opened into the upper end 


The Faithful of Rome. 


15 


of the atrium. He had soon despatched his busi- 
ness with his clients and hastened to the study, 
where he found the courier seated at a marble table 
well furnished, by the attention of the freedman, 
with the necessary refreshments ; while Claudia, 
who had come down to do the honors of the 
mansion, was questioning him with evident interest. 

This noble senatorial family was never happier 
than when its generous hospitality could be extended 
to a brother in the faith. “ See, Pudens,” exclaimed 
the pious matron, with an expression of great joy, 
as her husband entered the room, “ here is a mes- 
senger from the Church of Seleucia ; we shall have 
some news from the Saints in Asia.” 

The Senator smiled in reply, and looking more 
attentively at the courier, he recognized him as a 
fugitive slave, called Onesimus, converted in Rome 
by Paul, and freed on this account by his master 
Philemon. He immediately approached him, pressed 
him to his bosom and kissed him upon the forehead, 
with the salutation : “ The grace and peace of Jesus 
Christ be with you ; you are the friend of Paul, and 
therefore ours.” 

“ Thanks,” replied the messenger, “ I am the slave 
of Philemon.” 

“ Here,” returned the Senator, “ you are free in 
the liberty of Jesus Christ. I have read the letter 


1 6 Simon Peter and Simon Magus. 

of Paul recommending' you to your master; what 
you have done for Paul endears you to the whole 
Church of Rome.”* Meanwhile, the Senator had 
been breaking the seals which secured the package, 
and looking over the letters he read the superscrip- 
tions aloud : “ This is for Peter, this for Paul, for 
Luke, for Clement, for Linus. This one ” — here he 
paused to examine more closely the superscription 
of the one in his hand, and then continued with an 
expression of some surprise — “To Praxedes and 
Pudentiana, daughters of Cornelius Pudens ! What 
can this mean ? Read, Claudia, ‘ To Praxedes and 
Pudentiana, daughters of Cornelius Pudens what 
a delight it will be for our little girls to know that 
the Saints of Seleucia write to them, too ! Send a 
servant for them at once with word that I expect 
them in my study.” Then turning to the messenger, 
he continued : “ While I forward the other letters to 
their destination and receive the answers, you shall 
be our guest ; your hand,” and they shook hands as 
a pledge of mutual faith. “ Peter and Paul are not at 
present in Rome : the solicitude of all the Churches 

* St. Paul, writing to Philemon, calls Onesimus his son and 
" his own bo v els.” He affectionately exhorts his friend to receive 
back the fugitive. f ‘ not now as a servant, but a most dear 
brother, and even as himself,” and this because of his recent 
baptism, and the services he had rendered the apostle who was 
then a prisoner. 


The Faithful of Rome . 17 

calls them away to the help of infant communities. 
However, I shall find means to ascertain their 
whereabouts and to transmit these letters to them, 
with those which come to me for them every day. 
Clement is in the city ; Linus is here in our own 
house, and last night he broke bread in our assem- 
bly. Mark, my friend, last night ! let this be your 
guide ; we are no longer in the times of Burrhus 
and Seneca; Tigellinus is our prefect now. God 
grant that he, too, may accompany Caesar to 
Achaia,* that the Church may breathe in peace for 
a moment. You know what streams of blood have 
reddened the Vatican, and how freely it has daily 
flowed since the publication of the Edict of Pro- 
scription. In a word, we live amid tortures and 
deaths, as Paul expresses it.”f 

Pudens was still speaking when Pudentiana, who, 
with her sister Praxedes, came skipping across the 
little lawn of the inner garden, approached her father 
with the apology : “ Father, we have made you wait 
too long ; what did you want with us ? We were 
just finishing our prayers in the oratory.” And her 
words were confirmed by the appearance of their 
dress, which consisted of an extremely plain tunic 
reaching to the instep, and covered by a light cloak ; 


* Sueton. Nero, 22 f II Cor. ix. 23. 

2 


1 8 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

the hair was not braided with pearls and jewels, but 
gathered modestly into a knot behind, and confined 
by a simple net : a white veil fell upon the shoulders, 
precisely as they had been taught by their catechists, 
the Apostles.* Pudens kissed his daughters, and 
said to the younger: “ You are a little late, but not 
too late. Here is a letter directed to you. I did 
not know that you had already established a foreign 
correspondence so distant. This is a pretty busi- 
ness ! Here is a courier from Seleucia with de- 
spatches for my little lady Pudentiana; and I do 
not know who sends them !” and with these words 
he handed her the sealed parchment. The little 
maiden drew back her hand in great trepidation, 
and blushing deeply, replied, while her voice trem- 
bled with fear and surprise : “ Nor do I know who 
is acquainted with me across the seas ; read it your- 
self, father/' 


* I Peter, iii, 1 seq. — I Tim. ii, 9. — St. Linus, a disciple of 
Peter and Paul, ordered that no woman should enter the church 
without a veil upon her head (Baron, ann. 80. No. 4). Even 
at this early date it was found necessary to issue stringent 
ordinances against immoderate display in dress. “ The long 
trails which reach even below the feet, are a mark of ostenta- 
tion and vain pride; it is an impediment in walking, and be- 
sides the dress is thus made to do the office of a broom, sweep- 
ing up all the filth of the pavements,” etc., etc. Who would 
take this to be the language of a Father of the Church in the 
second century ? And yet it is found in Clement of Alexan- 
dria, Pcdag.TI, 10., opp. ed. Migne; t, 1., p. 532. 


The Faithful of Rome . 


19 


“ No, no,” interrupted Claudia, seating the little 
girl upon her lap and kissing her ; “ read it your- 
self, my dear. Do you not see that your father is 
in sport ? It came with other letters from the Saints 
in Asia.” 

Pudentiana drew a long breath, looked around in 
astonishment, and exclaimed, “ Is it possible ?” 
Then breaking the seal, she read aloud : “ Thecla, 
to the dearest sisters Praxedes and Pudentiana, 
greeting :” — 

“ But who is this Thecla ?” asked Pudens of the 
courier ; “ the martyr of Christ ?” 

“ The same,” replied the messenger. 

The astonishment of the girls was but increased 
by this information. But Pudentiana continued : 
“ Think it not strange, dearest sisters, if a sister to 
you unknown, thus writes to you. For while I re- 
main in my retreat here in Seleucia, hidden from 
the world, the good odor of your virtues has 
reached all the Churches of the East. We bless 
God that the house of Cornelius Pudens is made the 
abode of the Apostles of Jesus Christ, and the refuge 
of the brethren in Rome ; and, moreover, that his 
daughters have come to be esteemed the ornaments 
of the Gospel. Most excellent sisters, I beg you to 
send me some tidings concerning Paul, who bestowed 
upon me the Holy Ghost. Did you know with 


20 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

what solicitude he labored to form Christ in me, 
feeding me first with the milk, then with the solid 
food of the Spirit, you would certainly forgive my 
importunity. I was wandering about in the dark- 
ness of error and eaten up by the cares of the world ; 
he taught me the truth and showed me the happi- 
ness of those who consecrate their virginity to the 
Lord. I am weak and timid ; but he has assured 
me that God will not allow me to be tempted beyond 
my strength, and that the very temptation will prove 
a gain to me instead of a loss. I entreated to be 
allowed to follow him in order that I might hear 
his teachings ; but he did not grant my prayer. 
Happy you, O Roman brethren, to whom it is given 
to hear his words ! Here, all love him most tenderly, 
and all grieve at his long absence. The last time 
we saw him, at Miletus, he told us that the Spirit 
of God called him to Jerusalem, witnessing to him 
that chains and afflictions awaited him there, and 
that we should see his face no more. And when he 
had spoken this sad farewell he knelt down and 
prayed with us. There was much weeping among 
all ; all embraced him with great sorrow because of 
the word which he had said, that we should see his 
face no more ; and we all accompanied him to the 
ship.* During the whole course of his journey, the 


* Act xx, 17-3S. 


The Faithful of Rome. 


21 


prophets of the various Churches repeated their 
warnings, and the disciples would have dissuaded 
him from going up to Jerusalem. But the generous 
Apostle, far from allowing himself to be discouraged, 
only hastened on his way, declaring that he was 
ready not only to be bound but even to die for the 
name of the Lord Jesus, in the city where He had 
suffered for love of us.* What did he not suffer in 
Jerusalem, and in other places, on land and on sea! 
The Saints of Italy know his trials ; for they saw 
him land on their shores, bound with chains, and 
live there for two years as a prisoner.! But at 
length the angel that had freed Peter broke the 
chains of Paul ; and the Churches of Greece and 
Asia were enabled to see him again ; though indeed 
he was rather shown than given back to them. It 
was not allowed me to throw myself at the feet of 
my beloved master; and to fill the measure of my 
misfortunes (if the dispositions of God can be called 
misfortunes.) I hear, in our assemblies, the dreadful 

* Acts xxi, 13. — It was not unusual, in the assemblies of the 
early Christians, to see some of the brethren rise up to prophesy ; 
or, in other words, to explain the meaning of the Sacred Text, 
to make known the lights received from the Holy Ghost, or to 
communicate other things conducive to the general edification. 
This is treated at large in the 14th ch. of the 1st Ep. to the 
Corinthians. 

f Ibid, xxviii, 12-30. 


22 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

report that the Spirit recalls him to Rome to con- 
summate his course and receive the crown of 
justice.* Ah ! perhaps he is already there ! already 
in chains ! already in the lion’s jaws ! Pudentiana 
and Praxedes, my sisters, strengthen my weakness 
by some tidings of consolation, and comfort me in 
my bitter grief. And if God allows no more, kiss 
the chains of Paul for me, and recommend me to his 
prayers. Remember the charity of Christ in calling 
us out of the darkness into the light, in which we 
have been bound together by an everlasting tie : 
remember that the Apostles of the Lord never de- 
spised my grief ; no, nor did even the divine Mother 
of Jesus Christ despise it, for she often received me 
with motherly tenderness, at Ephesus. Do not 
then, servants of the Lord, despise the tears of His 
unworthy handmaid. Grace be with you and all 
yours. Amen.” 

“ But who am I ?” exclaimed Praxedes, “ that 
Theda, the great confessor of Jesus Christ, should 
think of me !” 

Pudentiana had meanwhile fallen on her knees 


* Several of the holy Fathers assert that St. Paul had this 
vision and declared it; among others, St. Augustine and St. 
Athanasius: and certainly a foundation for the statement is 
afforded by the Epistle of St. Paul, written shortly before his 
martyrdom. — II Tim. iv, 6-8. 


The Faithful of Rome. 


23 


and was pressing the letter to her lips, confounded^ 
at the thought that her name should be known to 
the renowned martyr, and that Thecla should have 
asked from her tidings of an Apostle. Pudens filled 
with joy at the sight of such noble humility in his 
daughter, raised her up, and turning to Onesimus : 

“ Why,” he asked, “ did you say nothing of Thecla ? 
Tell us something of her holy conversation.” . . . 

“ What could I tell you that you do not already 
know ? She is the mirror of Christian virgins ; and 
it is the universal sentiment that Paul, when he 
converted her, communicated to her a portion of his 
apostolic spirit. She makes herself the servant of 
the Church and of the poor, washes the feet of the 
saints, and goes from house to house preaching 
Christ to those of her own sex, just as the lady 
Claudia Sabinilla here, and your daughters and 
others like them are doing everyday.” . . . 

‘ But,” interposed Pudentiana, “ we have not 
suffered by fire and sword, for Jesus Christ; we 
have not met the lions of the amphitheatre as 
Thecla has.”* 


* No woman of the apostolic period was more illustrious than 
St. Thecla, and none has ever been more highly eulogized by 
the Fathers, both Greek and Latin. St. Gregory Nazianzen 
mentioned her together with the Apostles, as a witness of the 
faith which should have won the respect of Julian, the Apostate. 


24 Simon Peter and Simon Magus. 


At this point of the conversation the Bishop 
Linus, who also enjoyed the hospitality of Pudens, 
during this time of persecution, was seen advancing 
slowly through the galleries of the atrium, and 
approaching the vestibule. The Senator sent to beg 
that he would come to them for a moment to read 
the despatches and see the bearer. The saint 
entered the study, gave the kiss of peace to 
Onesimus, and after perusing his letter with an 
expression of trouble and sorrow, he said : “ Pray to 
God, my brethren, that He would take pity on our 
misfortunes. Timothy, the disciple of Paul, writes 
that the doctrines of Simon* are causing great 
trouble there; and he asks the advice of the 
Apostles. Poor Bishop of Ephesus ! He does not 
know that Peter and Paul are far away from Rome, 

Vid. Baron, ann. 47, No. 1 et seqq., and the Bollandists, 27th 
Sept. She was renowned for her constancy amid the torments 
suffered in defence of her virginity, for the miracles by which 
God preserved her life for the edification of the Church, and for 
her devotion to St. Paul who had converted her in the city of 
Icomum, where he preached in the } r ear 47. Act. xiv. 1-6. 
We have here joined the name of Claudia to that of Sabinilla, 
believing that the two names did, in all probability, belong 
together. For tradition informs us that the Claudia mentioned 
by St. Paul, — II Tim. iv. 21, — was the wife of Pudens ; and 
again, in the acts of St. Pudentiana, the wife of Pudens is 
called Sabinilla. Respecting the value of these acts, vid. 
Bolland, May 19th, where the hasty criticism of Tillemont is 
well answered. * Simon Magus. 


The Faithful of Rome. 


25 


and that we, tossed about by the same storm, are at 
a loss to know whether we should call them to our 
assistance or entreat them to avoid the danger and 
preserve themselves for the Church.” 

As soon as he had recovered from his emotion he 
listened to the account of Theda’s letter to the 
daughters of the Senator, and perceiving their con- 
fusion at the mention of the fact : “ Why are you 

troubled, my children?” he said to them kindly: 
“ Do you not remember that we are all brothers in 
Christ ? What wonder that Thecla should write to 
you and ask for tidings of the Roman Church? 
One of you should write to tell her, in all simplicity, 
whatever you know about our affairs ; just as you 
would write to the Lady Claudia if she were at 
the villa, at Baiae. Tell her that the Roman Church 
is in the greatest trouble, that Christian blood is 
daily shed upon the Vatican and outside of every 
gate, that the same news comes to us from all the 
Churches in Italy, that Peter and Paul ” 

Here Linus broke off suddenly, turned away his 
head to hide his emotion, and hastened from the 
room. 

He could only say to Pudens, who had followed 
him from the apartment : “ Peter and Paul announce 
in the Churches that their passion is at hand ! Alas ! 
what will become of the Roman Church amid so 


26 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

furious a persecution, amid so many scandals raised 
by Simon Magus, amid so many apostasies ? May 
our Lord Jesus Christ succor our bark tossed about 
and on the eve of shipwreck !” And the holy 
bishop turned his steps towards the Trastevere, 
where several neophytes were waiting to receive 
baptism at his hands : and thence to visit the Tullian 
prison, in which many confessors supported by 
Christian charity were expecting the hour of 
martyrdom. 



CHAPTER II. 


THE HEATHENS OF ROME. 



ORNELIUS PUDENS, though deeply grieved 


by the words of Linus, still left his house at 


y the usual hour, and proceeded slowly toward 
the quarter known as the Carene , in order to avoid 
the shops of the Suburra; thence he went down, 
escorted by the whole body of his clients, into the 
Sacred Way and to the Forum, where he was 
obliged to spend the morning. Yet not all the 
turmoil of the disputants crowding around the 
Praetor’s tribunal, nor the wrangling of the lawyers, 
nor the harangues of the jugglers on their stands, 
nor the busy hum of the mingled throng of the 
great men and plebeians about the bankers’ tables, 
or on the steps and porticoes of the basilicas, could 
tear from his breast the dart which had been fastened 
in it, by the tidings of the danger which threatened 
the Apostle Peter, of the imminent peril of the 


27 


28 Simon Peter and Simon Magus. 



Roman Church. Every hour measured by the 
water-clock of the Capitol seemed lengthened into 
ages, so anxiously did he look for the hour of noon, 
when he might bid adieu to the business of the 
Forum, and retire to sigh and pray alone in solitude 
and recollection. 

The wished-for hour at length arrived ; taking 
leave of his friends, who did not let him go without 
some difficulty, he entered his litter, and gave his 
order to the bearers : “ Home.” But a new thought 
seemed to strike him suddenly — “ Peter is on his 
way back to us : new storms are gathering from all 
sides against him : it might be well at least to recon- 
noitre the field and to sound the dispositions of the 
courtiers.” And drawing back the curtains of his 
litter he gave a new order: “To the Octavian 
library.” 

The streets of Rome were deserted and silent, for 
everybody had hurried home to enjoy the usual 
mid-day nap ; but the Octavian library was never 
empty ; there the inflated sophists, the idle 
grammarians and chance rhetoricians usually con- 
gregated, as they had no better dormitory. Pudens 
thought that he should probably hear here some 
court-gossip who could give him the run of matters 
in the imperial palace. He succeeded better than 
he had hoped, for he had hardly alighted at the 


The Heathens of Rome . 29 

portico, when he was accosted by the philosopher 
Demetrius, a Cynic by profession though not one of 
the lower class, and moreover a secret enemy and 
most cordial despiser of Nero.* The Cynic was 
well acquainted with the Senator, whom he had 
frequently met at the dwelling of Thrasea Peto, 
another Senator by no means friendly to the Prince ; 
he accordingly gave him a cordial greeting : 

“ Well met, Cornelius Pudens, what new decrees 
are you getting up for us, there in the Forum?” 

“ You know as much about that as the Senators,” 
replied Pudens. 

“ Well,” continued the philosopher, “ Caesar is all 
goodness. He does not wish to lay burdens upon 
you : what a pleasant way of vegetating ! never to 
sweat a drop ! no harder work than to hold the light 
for Tigellinus, Polycletus, HHius, Nymphidius, and 
those other fine fellows who deal out felicity to us 
blessed mortals !” 

“ Hush ! the informers !” interrupted the Senator. 

“ I know my chickens,” said Demetrius. “ With 
others I should be as mute as the Egyptian 

*This Demetrius and his open antipathy against the Caesars 
are mentioned by Seneca, Epictetus, and Philostratus. Tacitus 
represents him at the death-bed of Thrasea Petus, Ann. XVI, 
35. He was afterwards exiled, but returned and was at Rome 
under Domitian, Tac. Hist. IV, 40. We represent him as 
speaking according to his historical character. 


30 Simon Peter and Simon Magus. 

Harpocrates. Prudence is the word ! I fly the 
court as I would the gates of Tartarus.” 

“ That is something of a figure of speech,” re- 
sumed Pudens, “ for I know that you ferret out the 
most hidden secrets of the palace ; you cynics are 
all of a piece.” 

“ In heart, yes ; in profession, no ! And to tell 
you the plain truth, there are some who make very 
fair professions, but hardly realize them in practice.” 

“ But whom do you fear ?” 

“ Everybody.” 

“ Who rules the palace, now ?” 

“Tigellinus, of course; but the ministers who 
rule under him are mountebanks, pimps, pipers, — in 
fact, all the rabble of Baiae follows in his train. 
Still, the sceptre seems to have passed lately into 
the hands of one of the circumcised.” 

“ Who is he ?” 

“ A philosopher, dialectician, magician, diviner — 
in fact, their god. Our Caesar adores him because 
the knave has promised to teach him such mysteries 
and charms that he may command even king Jove 
and all the great gods of Olympus.” 

“ His name ?” 

“ The Jews call him Simon ; but at court he is 
known as Icarus.” 

“ What ! does he pretend to fly ?” 


The Heathens of Rome. 


3i 


“ Pretend ? He has even promised that sight to 
Lucius Domitius Nero Claudius Augustus Germani- 
cus, &c., &c. ; he has promised it with oaths re- 
peated and reiterated.” 

“ What if he should not succeed ?” 

“ Oh ! leave reflection for to-morrow. For the 
present he is stuffing his skin and his purse. He 
takes care to display every day some new prodigy 
more astonishing than yesterday’s, by way of ac- 
customing Caesar to the sight of such wonders ; and 
the philosophers meanwhile stand by and hold his 
toga, for they hope to root in the trough of Midas, 
too.” 

“And to which side have you attached yourself?” 

“ Faith, to the one that keeps farthest from Caesar; 
for if Nero, in the intervals of these diversions, 
should happen to remember certain tricks of mine, 
his first loving return would be to give me a coat 
of pitch and honor me with a standing place on the 
Vatican to light him in his evening rides.”* 


* It is well known that the space now occupied by St. Peter’s, 
with its great square, as well as the whole extent of the Borgo 
Nuova and Borgo Vecchio, were once embraced by the gardens 
and circus of Nero, the scene of the first general persecution of 
the Christians. Some were devoured by beasts, others tarred 
and burned alive; these facts are mentioned by Tacitus, Sue- 
tonius, Seneca, Martial, Juvenal, and by the Ecclesiastical 
writers. 


32 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 


Pudens could not restrain a deep sigh ; but as he 
had determined at any cost to reconnoitre, he con- 
tinued with apparent unconcern : 

“To judge by your words, you do not seem to 
have been much taken with all this display. Why 
not become a client of this Simon the Jew, to enjoy 
his protection ?” 

“ I would rather give myself to all three of the 
furies. I would be their friend, their slave, if they 
would but do a certain thing according to my mind 
— however, I know my prayers to mother Hecate.” 

“ Remember, my dear cynic, that we are no . 
longer in the days of Diogenes and Alexander.” 

“True! for we live in better days. The misfor- 
tune is that you easy Senators only know how to 
recline in your ivory chairs ; I’ve no patience with 
that dolt of a Montanus. By Pluto ! he had the 
game in his hands, and — but enough !” 

“ What do you mean ?” 

“You wish to play innocent, eh ! Do you not 
know that the other night, in this very Rome, a 
certain married Senator caught Caesar disguised 
and in his house, according to the usual custom of 
the imperial debauchee ? and he belabored the im- 
perial intruder so soundly that he was obliged to 
keep at home for several days, engaged, as he gave 
out, in practising on the lyre, but, as we said, in 


33 


The Heathens of Rome . 

studyin g fractions * The great fault of Montanus, in 
this case, was that he contented himself with thrash- 
ing the brute ; he ought to have thrown him head 
first into a sewer.” 

“ Yes, but what would the papers have said ?”f 

“The papers? You mean history. The pro- 
vinces and the army would have given Montanus a 
triumph. Why, the very Jews would have celebratd 
two Sabbaths in that week.” 

“ You told me, just now, that the Jews rule in the 
palace of Nero.” 

“ And are you too one of the queer heads ? The 
palace is ruled by the faction of Simon Icarus, but 
his favor at court has ruined him on the other side 
of the Tiber.J The partizans of Chrestus make little 
of him, and threaten him with their most expert 
sorcerers from Judea ” 

* Sueton. Nero. 4, 26 ; Tacit. Ann. XIII, 25 ; Plin. XIII, 43. 

f These were the Acta Diurna, real official journals, sent 
from Kome, and read per provincias, per exercitus. Tac. Ann. 
XYI, 22. Tacitus (Ann. XIII, 32,) establishes clearly the dis- 
tinction between events and annals, and between news and 
newspapers. 

t For several centuries after the reign of Caligula the Jews 
lived, for the most part, in the region known as the Trastevere 
(across the Tiber), Baron. Ann. 69, No. 9. St. Peter resided 
among them in the beginning, which does not, however, make 
anything against the tradition that he enjoyed the hospitality 
of Pudens, at the foot of the Esquiline and Viminal. 

3 


34 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

“For instance?” 

“ Oh ! they have more of them than I could tell 
you : there is Cephas, and Simon Barjona, and 
Peter, and Paul, and Saul, and a host more.” 

“ But what does Simon Icarus say of it ?” 

“ He declares that he will have all these Christian 
magicians before the Emperor, expose them, refute 
them, and send them to the slaughter house to be 
flayed alive.” 

“ Do you really think that he will succeed ?” 

“ Why, as to that, I can’t say, for I never trouble 
my head about such matters, whether the followers 
of Simon or those of that Chrestus win, is all one 
to me ; I let the dogs fight it out among themselves. 
However, Tigellinus and his party are for Simon, 
Nero is for Simon ; a man would have to be very 
well off to get the better of Simon now. You know 
Tigellinus’ way of winning ; he sends you a centu- 
rion with four stout praetorians, a little bleeding and 
— good night !” 

Pudens had learned as much of the court news 
as he wanted, for in spite of the confused expres- 
sions and misnomers of the heathen philosopher, he 
had been able to trace the plan of Simon Magus.* 


* That the Heathens often confounded Christianity and 
Judaism is clearly proved by well-known passages of Tacitus 
and Suetonius. We also learn from the writings of St. Clement, 


The Heathens of Rome. 


35 


Taking leave therefore of the excited philosopher, 
who would have accompanied him home, he threw 
himself again into his litter. Meanwhile, the streets 
were gradually filling up with young men of leisure 
and the usual idlers, all moving in the direction of 
the Campus Martius, though it was not yet three 
o’clock. He called on some of the principal Chris- 
tians, members of the noblest families ; among these 
was the illustrious Pomponia Graecina, known 
among the Christians as Lucina,* * and Plautilla, one 
of that Flavian race which was soon to furnish 
Rome with emperors and consuls, which had 
already given to the Church saints, soon to become 
martyrs. Pudens did not divine these mysterious 
views of Providence, nor were the other Christians 
more enlightened on the subject. Their conversa- 


Pope, that St. Peter was looked upon by the Jews as a ma- 
gician. We also find that Simon Magus brought against St. 
Peter, while in Antioch, a formal charge of sorcery. — Vid. Re- 
cognit. X, 54, Opp. Ed. Migne, t.,1, p. 1446; and in his Homi- 
lies , passim. 

* We have already several times expressed our assent to the 
not improbable conjecture that the Lucina so well known, in 
ecclesiastical tradition, for her devotion to St. Peter, is the 
Pomponia Graecina of Tacitus. That the latter was a Chris- 
tian, we can hardly doubt, after reading the whole context of 
Tac. Ann. XIII, 32. The Plautilla mentioned in the martyr- 
dom of the Apostles was probably of the Flavian house. — Cf. 
Caron. An. 69, No. 9 ; — Bolland, May 20th. 


36 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

tions were mingled with sighs, and expressions of 
anguish and consternation. Some were mourning 
friends exiled by proscription, others wept for rela- 
tions sacrificed to pagan fury ; all were in the 
deepest grief at the daily tidings of death inflicted 
upon the brethren in Rome and throughout all 
Italy. When they learned from the Senator the 
plan of operations against Peter, they broke out into 
bitter grief, and raising their hands to heaven, 
prayed for mercy. 

The mind of the Senator, filled with such 
thoughts as these, was shocked at the sight pre- 
sented by pagan Rome, as he passed through its 
now crowded streets. The people of the lower 
classes swarmed from all sides, absorbed in the 
pursuit of their own pleasures, without a thought of 
the axes of Nero, which only fell upon the necks of 
the great and wealthy, or of the hated Christians. 
Careless of the sighs and sufferings of the Church, 
the Campus Martius was thronged as usual ; as full 
as ever of wrestlers, athletes, ball-players and horse- 
men ; the porticoes, the libraries, the walks, the 
baths re-echoed the tones of the readers ; in the by- 
streets and markets the corybantes of Cybele were 
beating their drums and slashing one another with 
their knives, in the hope of making a farthing or 
two out of some compassionate dupe ; the people 


37 


The Heathens of Rome. 

were listening to the dissertations of the cynic 
philosophers ; the lying priests of Isis and Anubis 
sold their mysteries, while, close by, loud-mouthed 
mountebanks were crying their charms against the 
bite of serpents. Idle, sensual and cruel people, 
spending whole days and even years in such 
pursuits, outraging the world which must pay for 
its pleasures ! 

“ What a life is Rome leading now !” sighed 
Pudens, as he heard the gong of the Thermae 
summoning the people to the baths. “ After 
luxury, surfeit, and after the surfeit, follow the 
orgies, carried far into the night ! and the morrow 
only brings a repetition of the same, with the sole 
difference, perhaps, that he who spent to-day amid 
the dust of the Campus Martius, will spend to- 
morrow amid the blood of the circus ; and he who 
to-day waded in the gore of the slaughter-pens, to- 
morrow will bathe in the Tiber opposite the Campus 
Martius.” 

Such indeed was Rome, degraded by the Caesars ; 
and under the last of the line she had reached the 
lowest depth of ignominy. Under Nero, the 
plundering of the provinces to replenish the im- 
perial chest, and furnish amusements to the people, 
had become more open and shameless than in any 
preceding reign ; yet while rolling in wealth, they 


38 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 


were ever in want ; ever glutting yet always 
famished. The Emperor never sent a magistrate to 
the provinces without the instruction : “ Remember 
that I need money; seize everything.”* True, 
each day witnessed the rise of some new building, 
which, by its immense bulk, gave an air of majestic 
splendor to the imperial capital ; it was one grand 
collection of temples, palaces, courts, baths, 
columns, statues, markets and theatres; one glare 
of rich marbles, precious metals and costly gems. 
Nero’s golden house, which was nearly finished at 
the time of our narrative, took in three of the hills 
of Rome — the Palatine, the Caelian and the Quirinal 
— and contained more master-pieces of art than are 
to be found, at the present day, in all the museums 
of Europe. And yet the Romans of Nero’s day 
were the most wretched people on the face of the 
earth. Nine-tenths of them were slaves, as little 
considered, in those times, as beasts of burden ; not 
men, but chattels, without country, without family, 
without any right to honor, to virtue, or to life. 
The remainder were citizens ; though, indeed, many 
of them were clients whose condition was but little 


* “ Scis quid mihi opus est. Hoc agamus, ne quis quidquam 
liabeat.” Sueton. Nero, 32. To plunder was wrong, but at 
least Nero did not say: "Justice for all; all equal before the 
tax.” 


The Heathens of Rome . 


39 


above that of an ordinary slave ; the wealthy were 
few, and these were the slaves of their own slaves ; 
slaves of their clients, of their freedmen, of the 
Emperor ; but especially the slaves of their own 
passions. 

Upon all this darkness there broke not even a 
distant dawning light, not the faintest ray of hope 
for any improvement in the social condition. Not 
only were the people strangers to all ideas of 
better things ; they could not even imagine a re- 
form ; indeed, the very thought would have 
frightened them. They would have hated the man 
who said to them : To-morrow, the human slaughter- 
pens shall be closed ; Romans, forget the amphi- 
theatre. They would have hated him who hinted 
to them : To-morrow, the dens of infamy now open 
to the light of day shall be destroyed ; Romans, 
forget the theatre. In fact, every one, in his own 
home, reproduced on a small scale, as far as his 
means allowed, the spirit of the circus and of the 
theatre ; and he who could not do it, at least desired 
to do it. The very crimes of Nero afforded a source 
of amusement to his subjects ; that people were 
worthy of Nero, and Nero was worthy of the people. 
The Senate might condemn him as having been an 
enemy to his country ; the vulgar mind, since it 
could hope for no excesses greater than those of 


40 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

Nero, long wept their departed favorite, festooned 
his monument with flowers, carried his statues 
about in triumph ; and in hailing the accession of a 
successor to the throne, they knew no higher title 
of honor than to style him a second Nero.* 

It is true that, now and then, a discontented 
growl might be heard from some Stoic or Cynic, in 
condemnation of the daily-growing brutality ; but it 
amounted only to a little practice of style or an 
episode in an evening entertainment. Superstition 
too was there to brutalize its votaries with its im- 
pious and shameless mysteries, extinguishing the 
last sparks of natural piety and justice. What 
human power could reclaim the empire through 
Roman philosophy and Roman religion, when, but 
a short time before, Nero could walk the streets of 
Rome, his hands red with the blood of his mother, 
Agrippina, and receive the congratulations of Seneca 
and Burrhus, the two most upright men of the 
empire, on the success of his crime; when the 
Senate and people crowded tumultuously around to 


*Sueton. Nero, 57. “Creditus est ( Otho ) etiam de cele- 
branda Neronis memoria agitavisse, spe vulgus alliciendi ; et 
fuere qui imagines Neronis proponerent. Atque etiam Othoni 
quibusdam diebus populus et miles tanquam nobilitatem et 
decus adstruerenl, Neroni Othoni adclamavit. ,, Tac. Hist. 
I, 78. 


The Heathens of Rome . 


41 


greet him and raise triumphal arches in his honor, 
when all the open temples smoked with incense and 
the parricide went up to the Capitol to thank the 
gods for the blood he had drained from a mother’s 
veins.* 

One single luminous spot shone out from amid 
the darkness fostered by men and demons — the 
little mustard-seed of the gospel sown by Peter 
within the shadow of the Capitol. From that time 
the little seed became fruitful, and grew up into a 
tall, wide-spreading tree, without any other obstacle 
than the vices of the age. Pudens had seen the 
Apostles baptize a great number of Jews and 
, multitudes of Gentiles ; he had seen many churches 
reared opposite to the heathen shrines, and the 
gospel carried into the very palace of the Caesars, 
where a disciple of Jesus Christ poured the rich 
Falernian into Nero’s cup, while Pudens himself 
represented Christianity in the senate. This was 
certainly a bright and cheering prospect; it was 
like a friendly star breaking through the gloom of a 
stormy night. But now this bright beam was 
darkened by the smoke of burning Rome ; a dis- 
graceful crime which the imperial incendiary would 


* Tac. Ann. XIV, 10-14. — This is one of the most disgraceful 
pages in the annals of the human race 


42 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

have washed out in Christian blood ; while, to com- 
plete the work of crushing out the faith in Rome, 
an enemy even more cunning was at hand — Simon 
Magus. 

“ Who shall check Simon,” thought the Senator, 
“in his work of utter ruin? He is the personal 
enemy of Peter ; he knows our secrets ; perhaps at 
this very moment he has already planned the death 
of the Apostles. He has, on his side, Nero and 
Tigellinus ; he has gold, influence, accomplices, — 
everything ! God save the Church of Rome !” 

Under the weight of his pressing grief the 
Senator, at his return home, could not partake of the 
usual meal, and rising from the table he said to 
Praxedes and Pudentiana : “ Now, my children, is 
the time to pray.” The girls understood that some 
new disaster threatened the brethren, and they 
withdrew, with their mother, to pray. They did 
not know, however, that their father had spent the 
last few days in consulting the elders of the Church 
on the best means of saving Peter and Paul from 
the fury of the persecution. It had been finally 
determined to hold a meeting, on that very night, in 
the Senator’s house, in the apartments assigned for 
the meetings of the faithful. This was a large 
furnished room, in the most unfrequented part of 
the palace, into which opened a secret postern 


The Heathens of Rome . 


43 


carefully guarded by some faithful Christian 
slaves. At the appointed hour, besides Linus, a 
guest of the house, there were assembled here the 
Bishop Clement, Luke the Evangelist, Flavius 
Clemens, who afterwards became illustrious in the 
world as the nephew and cousin of Emperors, but 
still more illustrious in the Church, as the brother, 
husband and uncle of saints ; who was afterwards, 
himself, a martyr of Jesus Christ.* Among the 
distinguished members of the council was Torpes, 
an officer of the imperial household, who came with 
many others, both priests and layman. 

The consultation was not long ; the information 
gathered from the various members soon made it 
but too evident that Peter and Paul could not escape 
the snares so skilfully set by Simon Magus ; Nero, 
too, was so madly devoted to magic since the 
arrival of the great magician Tiridates, king of 
Armenia, that he passed whole days and nights in 
bleeding to death men, women and children, cutting 

* Nephew of Vespasian, cousin of Titus, both Emperors; 
husband of St. Flavia Domitilla, uncle of another St. Flavia 
Domitilla, and brother to St. Plautilla, he was himself put to 
death by Domitian, in the year 95. — Vid. the lineage of the 
Flavii, by Brotier. TAC. Opp. Ed. Pomba, tom. V., page 22. 
St. Torpes was afterwards martyred at Pisa, and St. Paul 
probably alludes to him, when writing from Rome to the 
Philippians IV., 22: “Salutant vos omnes sancti, maxime qui 
de Csesaris domo sunt.” 


44 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 


up and carving their bodies, by way of apprentice- 
ship in the devilish art for which he felt a daily- 
growing passion. Since Simon had been brought 
into the imperial court, with his truly wonderful 
exhibitions of magic, Caesar actually doted on him 
and saw only with the eyes of Simon; Tigellinus 
seemed to have but one soul with the magician ; so 
that now he was strong in the arms of both his 
powerful patrons, and there could be no doubt of 
his bitter hostility to Peter, for in Samaria, in 
Phenicia, and everywhere in Asia, Peter and Simon 
had been in a continual struggle. * What, then, 
remained but to fly from the destruction which 
otherwise seemed unavoidable ? 

But Linus, who took the place of Peter in the 
local government ol the Roman Church, closed the 
deliberations by saying : “ Brethren, since so it hath 
seemed good to the elders, I shall send forward a 
deacon for the purpose of keeping back Peter and 
Paul, if possible. I say if possible ; for a voice in 
my heart tells me that while we are deliberating, 
they have started from Achaia, on their way to 


* The contest between Peter and Simon forms the subject of 
the twenty long homilies attributed to that Pope, St. Clement 
I, whom we have introduced here present in the meeting at the 
house of Pudens. 


The Heathens of Rome . 


45 


Rome, and if the winds have been favorable, they 
might already be in Italy.” 

“ I shall, at once, dispatch couriers towards 
Brundusium,” said Pudens. 

“And I,” added Flavius Clemens, “will send 
some by the Appian Way as far as Pozzuoli.” 

“And then,” said Torpes, in conclusion, “we 
must use every possible means to save them ; all 
the churches of Italy ought to be prepared, that 
wherever they happen to present themselves first, 
they may be informed of the state of things in Rome. 
Certainly the presence of our Apostles would be of 
immense benefit to the church now; but, believe 
me, for I have had every opportunity of examining 
matters closely, we cannot be so blind to facts as not 
to see that if they come here it can only be to fall 
under the axe of the executioner on the day after 
their arrival. Now, indeed, we are under a stricter 
obligation than ever to remember the words of 
Christ : ‘Be ye wise as serpents.’ And, in the 
name of the brethren who are of the household of 
Caesar, I beseech you, our Fathers and teachers in 
Jesus Christ, to make every effort to keep away 
Peter and Paul, at least, until Simon’s influence over 
Caesar shall have grown a little weaker.” 

Torpes had not finished the last sentence of his 
advice, when the faithful slave who had been 


46 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

stationed at the outer-door, rushed into the midst of 
the apartment, throwing wide open both folds of the 
door, and exclaimed, as if out of himself, “ Peter 
and Paul !” 

And there indeed stood the two Apostles before 
the startled assembly. They had reached Rome at 
nightfall, and without giving any notice of their 
arrival had hastened under cover of the increasing 
darkness, to the usual place of refuge, the hospita- 
ble mansion of Pudens. 




CHAPTER III. 

ROMAN PIETY IN THE DAYS OF PETER AND PAUL. 

9? HE sudden and unlooked-for appearance of the 
2 apostles Peter and Paul before the assembly at 
^ ' the house of Pudens, produced the effect of a 
burst of sunshine and a flash of lightning, simulta- 
neously breaking through the gloom of a great 
storm. All rushed forward promiscuously with an 
indescribable mingling of joy and grief; some cast 
themselves at the feet of the apostles, others seized 
their hands, while some again threw themselves into 
their arms, hoping and fearing at the same time. 
The holy travellers embraced each one of the 
brethren, gave them all the kiss of the Lord, with the 
solemn salutation : “ Peace be with thee/’* not with- 

* The kiss of peace was a custom of religious and mystic 
import and was exchanged between members of the same sex ; 
it was also a solemn usage in the sacred liturgy even outside of 
the churches ; it was instituted, so to speak, by the example 
of Jesus Christ, recommended by the apostles (I Pet. v., 14; 
Rom. xvi., 16; and in other passages,) and preserved to our 

47 


48 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 


out a few sweet tears of paternal consolation at find- 
ing themselves among children so worthy and so 
affectionate. But when the first offices of charity 
had been discharged, Linus began to lay before 
them, in brief, the state of the Roman Church and 
the counsel of the elders assembled ; “ that the 
presence of Peter and Paul was sweet and long- 
desired, and yet all thought that they ought to yield 
a little to the powerful influence of the enemies of 
God ; they begged that the apostles would not 
refuse to have pity on themselves and on the faith- 
ful, and to preserve themselves for the love and the 
safety of the whole Church.” 

Peter waited until the plan had been fully pro- 
posed, and then replied with an air of majestic 
serenity : 

“ Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, who by His great mercy has brought us 
again into your midst. You know, brethren, how 
long and obstinate a struggle Simon Magus has 
been waging against the Church ; that since the day 

cwn time in the ceremonies of Solemn Mass. Cf. Baron., an. 
45, No. 23 ei seqq. It has been lately renewed by some con- 
fraternities, in the symbolical kiss of peace, given by the 
brethren as a sign of inviolate charity, on entering the place of 
meeting. For a like reason the Pax Vobis, the salutation used 
by our Lord, became the greeting of the first Christians, Pax 
tecum , and we still frequently find it on their tombs. 


Roman Piety . 


49 


on which I excommunicated him in Samaria, he has 
been sending out false prophets and lying teachers 
into Syria and throughout all Asia, and has intro- 
duced these sects of perdition ; you know, too, how 
he has led astray a great number of followers, who 
tread in the way of luxury, blaspheming the teach- 
ings of truth. You cannot, especially, be blind to the 
efforts which he is making here to raise followers and 
to form a party ; that he is constantly on the watch 
to tempt with the bait of the passions such of the 
brethren as have lately come over from heathenism. 
He promises them liberty, whilst himself and his 
followers are slaves of corruption ; and already 
more than one unhappy wretch, led away from the 
path in which he had set out, has fallen back into a 
worse state than that in which he was before, thus 
fulfilling the true saying : ‘ The dog has returned to 
his vomit, and the sow to her wallowing in the 
mire.’ Now, is it just that I should longer allow 
him thus to carry on his work of perversion with- 
out restraint ? Who could console me if he now 
should stain with blood the Roman Church, so dear 
to Christ; the Church without spot or wrinkle, 
whose faith is renowned throughout the whole 
world? I know well that you are kept, by the 
power of God, in the true faith ; but I know, too, 
that the hour of trial is at hand, and that your faith 
4 


50 Simon Peter and Simon Magus. 


will be tried by fire, as gold is tried in the crucible. 
I know that you have noble leaders in the good 
fight, for I know Linus and Clement; but it is 
written : ‘ Feed my lambs ;’ and God says to the 
apostles ‘ Woe to you if you do not preach !’ For 
myself, I have the assurance that I must soon lay 
aside my earthly tabernacle ; of necessity, therefore, 
must I hasten to strike, with the weapon of the 
Word, and break the stumbling-block. And if it 
please God that I should here find the one who is to 
bind me, as our Lord Jesus Christ foretold, and lead 
me whither the weak flesh would not go, may His 
will be done. You, as children of obedience, let not 
yourselves be led astray by evil desires, as when 
you were in ignorance ; but rather submit to the 
pastor and bishop of your souls. Rest assured that 
no one shall be able to hurt us, if we are earnest 
in the right way; remember that the eyes of the 
Lord look upon the just, and His ears are always 
open to hear their prayers ; whilst against all pre- 
varicators, the divine wrath is ever enkindled. 
Therefore be wary and watch in prayer. Grace be 
with you all who are in Jesus Christ.”* 


* The discourse here ascribed to St. Peter is taken from his 
Epistles, sometimes literally, sometimes the sense merely. That 
St. Peter came to Rome at this time, to oppose Simon Magus, 
can be asserted with some reason, in view of the great disasters 


Roman Piety. 


5i 


While Peter spoke, Paul, who sat beside him, 
signified his assent by slightly nodding his head, 
and when the speaker had ended, he, too, by a 
motion of the hand, asked to be heard. He did not 
enter into a long discourse, but announced that the 
Holy Spirit had signified to him, too, that he should 
return to Rome, for that the time was near when he 
must bear witness to Christ before Caesar, and 
receive the crown of justice He begged them not 
to try to oppose his course ; for that he was a 
victim already prepared for the sacrifice, longing for 
the speedy dissolution of his earthly bonds and to 
be with Christ.* These words of Paul, more 

then brought upon the whole Church, especially in Home, by 
the heresies of that magician. The holy apostle, in his second 
Epistle, written at this time, in the city of Rome, and probably 
in the house of Pudens, seems to have no other aim than to 
combat Simonism ; the same may be said of the more or less 
contemporaneous letters of St. Paul, St. John, St. James and 
St. Jude. The same cause seems to have already brought him 
to Rome, the first time, under Claudius. Petrus, .... secun- 
do Claudii Imperatoris anno ad expugnandum Simonem 
Magum per git; says St. Jerome, De vir ill, cap I. The same 
testimony is gathered from the Apostolic Constitutions, vi, 7 ; 
or more frequently and more at length in St. Clement, Recogn. 
and Homil. The last three works though perhaps interpolate ' 
or attributed to doubtful authors, still are precious monuments 
of remote antiquity. Besides, we have the concurrent testi- 
mony of St. Filiastrio, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, the Philosophou- 
mena recently discovered, and many other ecclesiastical writers. 

* II. Tim. iv., G— 18, written by St. Paul from the Mamertine 
prison, at about this time. 


52 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

unequivocal still than those of Peter, seemed to lift 
a veil from before the eyes of the assembled 
brethren and displayed the imminent peril which' 
threatened the beloved apostles ; a general burst of 
grief was heard throughout the assembly, and the 
deeper because no one felt the courage to contra- 
vene the visible designs of Heaven. There seemed 
to be no course left but to bow submissively and 
trust the future to God. But when Claudia entered, 
with her daughters Praxedes and Pudentiana and 
the other members of the household, to do homage 
to the apostles, Peter was moved to compassion by 
their affectionate and bitter grief; and, wishing to 
appease their sorrow as far as possible, he yielded a 
little to their weakness, promising to remain some 
days concealed in the house of the Senator.* 

Linus and Clement, with the other priests, were 
directed to renew the spirit of grace in the faithful, by 
moving them to prayer and fasting, f The Apostle 
Paul,J as chief speaker and leader of the word, re- 

* The fatherly condescension of Peter to the faithful of Rome, 
is attested by St. Ambrose, Serm. contr. Auxent, !N o. 13, Ed. 
Migne, t. Ill, p. 1010; “Christianse animas deprecatse sunt ut 
paulisper cederet. Et quamvis esset cupidus passionis, tamen 
contemplatione populi precantis inflexus est, &c.” 

f A most ancient Roman tradition, which ha3, however, been 
often misrepresented. Cf. August, Ep. XXXVI, ad Casulan, 
No. 9, Ed. Migne,. t. II, p. 145. 

X “ Ipse (Paulus) erat dux verbi.” Acts xiv, 11. 


Roman Piety . 


53 


gardless of the plots of Simon Magus, visited with 
tireless zeal all the numerous churches which he 
had himself established as well as those which owed 
their foundation to Peter, besides many others 
which, like children of these parent churches, were 
springing up in every quarter of Rome. Sometimes 
he celebrated the Holy Mysteries in the dwelling of 
Aquila and Priscilla, on the Aventine, near the 
Fountain of the Fauns ; he gave strength and com- 
fort to that holy family of loving hosts to whom he 
owed his life, and they alone sufficed to form a 
church which might well have been proposed as a 
model of the Christian community ;* sometimes he 
met the faithful at his own lodgings at the house of 
the pious matron Sabina, in the Via Lata, where 
assisted by Luke, he purified the neophytes in the 
miraculous fount which had sprung up at his 
prayer, while he dwelt there as a prisoner.")* It was 

* I. Cor. xvi, 19 ; Rom. xvi, 3-5. This dwelling, according 
to the old Roman tradition, stood where now rise the walls of 
St. Prisca’s. This Priscilla, of the Aventine, must not be con- 
founded with another Priscilla, the mother of St. Pudens, 
mentioned in the acts of St. Pudentiana, and who left her name 
to a cemetery on the Via Nomen tana. 

f This is the site of the present Sta. Maria in Yia Lata. It 
is said that St. Paul dwelt in the house of Sabina on his first 
arrival in Rome, when he was for two years a prisoner at large 
(Act. xxviii, 16-31 ;) that St. Peter also stopped there for some 
time, and thence commissioned St. Martial to preach the faith 


54 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

not unusual to find him in the poor quarter of the 
Jews, across the Tiber, singling out the lowly but 
loved habitations of the Christians ; thence, at 
nightfall, he would ascend the Janiculum, and pass- 
ing out at the Aurelian gate, go down to the valley 
at the foot of the Vatican. There among the good 
lime-burners, vine-dressers, potters and brick 
makers, celebrating the Holy Mysteries in the 
retreat first established by St. Peter, he wept as he 
listened to the sad tale of the saints murdered in 
the neighborhood, and now sleeping in the Vatican 
Cemetery or in the sand-pits of the pious Lucina, 
on the Aurelian Way.* * 


in Gaul. The water of this spring is still in great devotional 
esteem, as well as the picture of the B. V. painted here by St. 
Luke. These ancient and venerable Koman traditions have a 
strong intrinsic ground of belief, as there is no historical diffi- 
culty that can militate against them. We have but to consult 
reliable writers on ecclesiastical antiquities of Rome, especially 
Moeoni, Diet. &c. Vol. XII, p. 172. 

* We have reason to believe that on the Vatican, there were 
Christian dwellings and the lodging-place of the Apostle Peter, 
with a church, or rather a hall used for the meetings of the 
Christians ; and this belief is borne out by the old Roman tra- 
dition quoted by Bosius in his Subterranean Rome, II, 2. This 
quarter was always distinguished, as it is at this day, by its 
brick-kilns: Ammianus Marcellinus speaks of it as inhabited 
by the poor, XXVII, 3; Juvenal makes it the quarter of the 
potters, Sat., VI., V., 344; Martial assigned it to the vine- 
dressers, I, Epigr. 19 : and these last two writers flourished at 
the time of St. Peter. It is not strange that among these 


Roman Piety . 


55 


It was to him a sweet task to spend whole nights 
in running about to gather the faithful into their 
secret meetings, to exorcise those of the brethren 
who were troubled by evil spirits, to comfort and 
anoint the sick,* to pour the oil and wine of charity 
into the wounds of the persecuted and the needy. 
And he never omitted, in those perilous journeys, 
to enforce earnestly the necessity of penance, as a 
most powerful remedy in the present sufferings of 
the Church. 

Meanwhile Peter was secretly gathering together 
the flower of the Roman Church amid the tombs 
outside of the Porta Collina, where the piety of 
some illustrious families and the inviolability of the 
cemetery, afforded the means of keeping there a 
Cathedral and Baptistery. Pudens himself had 

poorer people the seed of the faith should have taken early root ; 
a very propable argument is the existence there, near the circus 
of Nero, even as far back as the apostolic days, of the famous 
Vatican cemetery, excavated in the same style as the contem- 
poraneous cemetery of Lucina (perhaps the Pomponia Graecina 
of Tacitus) which was cut out by the Christians on the other 
side of the Tiber, outside of the Janiculum or Aurelian gate. 
This latter cemetery afterwards bore various names and was 
situated in the neighborhood of the present St. Pancrace’s. 
Here were buried Sts. Processus and Martinianus, with others 
of the first disciples of the Apostle St. Peter. 

* James, e., 14. The other spiritual helps administered at 
that period are described by St. Clement in his two Epistles to 
Virgins, of which we shall have more to say hereafter. 


56 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 


estates at his disposal along the Nomentan Road.* 
But the Apostle made his abode, for the most part, 
in the Senator’s palace, where the immense number 
of clients who daily crowded the atrium, served as 
a kind of cloak to the free access of the faithful. 
And the inner or private apartment presented a 
strange scene indeed, at almost every hour. At 
night the faithful of every condition met there to 
solemnize the Sacred Rites, while the day was 
devoted to audiences for those who had any business 
with the Apostle, especially to conferences for the 
women. The first one who presented herself was 
the venerable Claudia Sabinilla, leading in her two 
daughters, Praxedes and Pudentiana, who were 
already bound to perpetual virginity, and followed 
by her Christian freed-women and attendants. 
Peter, knowing by the spirit, that these were the 
last marks of attention that he should receive from 
the holy house of Pudens, received each one with 
every mark of esteem and love, breathing a heavenly 
ardor in every word that he uttered. The good old 

*This accounts for the rise here of the cemetery of St. 
Priscilla, mother of Pudens, and near it, the one known as the 
Ostian, whereat according to the old tradition, St. Peter gave 
baptism, though the latter was probably the one now known as 
St. Emerentiana's not far from the celebrated cemetery and 
basilica of St. Agnes. Vid. De Rossi, Roma Sotterranea, t* 
L., p. 184 ; and the acts of St. Pudentiana, Bolland, May 19th. 


Roman Piety. 


57 


man seemed never weary of speaking with the 
youthful Pudentiana, whom he saw, in the early 
bloom of less than fifteen years, already rich in 
multiplied merits, already ripe for Heaven, already 
near the time when she should fly on the wings of 
the dove to the bridal-chamber of her Heavenly 
Spouse.* 

She and her sister Praxedes often passed the day 
in transcribing the Gospel written by Mark, for the 
Romans ; and the pious copyists never met the 
detailed account of the fall of Peter, without feeling 
deeply moved and admiring the humility of the 
Prince of the Apostles who had dictated it himself, f 
As soon as they had finished a copy they put it by 
for Peter, who distributed them to the bishops 
whom he consecrated. It was a source of great joy 
to the holy young virgins to see that their labors 
were beneficial not only in Rome, but throughout 
the whole Church ; for while residing with Pudens, 
the apostle consecrated Apollinaris for Ravenna, 
Romolus for Fiesole, Eutropius for Verona, Sisus 
for Pavia and a number of others for the Apostolic 
work in Sicily, Gaul, Spain, Britain and the East. 

* The Acts of St. Pudentiana give her the crown of Martyr- 
dom at the age of seventeen. 

f An ancient tradition ; Vid Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. Ed 
Venet. t. II, p. 89. 


58 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 


Sometimes, too, they made copies of the letters 
written by Paul, and gave them to the families of 
the neophytes who lived too far from the city to 
attend the meetings of the faithful in which they 
were read. But within the last two years the 
persecution had enlarged their sphere of charitable 
labors. In the quarter where Claudia Sabinilla 
dwelt, the Christian matrons often met, as if for mere 
visits of courtesy, to consult about the dispensation 
of Christian charity : and there they apportioned to 
each one her duties in attending to the burial of 
such Christians as died or were martyred near their 
respective homes.* Claudia, for her part, sent out 
detachments of her Christian slaves, led by the 
generous freedman Eubulus,f along the Salarian 
and Nomentan Roads, to watch the places of daily 
slaughter, and provided with linen cloths in which 
to collect the holy relics, J the vessels to receive the 
blood, and sponges or little scrapers so as not to 

* Hence we find the cemeteries of the apostolic times, and 
even later, nearly all named after holy women, and nothing is 
more common in the Acts of the martyrs, than the mention of 
some pious matron taking charge of the bodies of the martyrs. 

f St. Paul, II. Tim. iv. 21, mentions a Eubulus in connection 
with Pudens and Claudia : from which fact, in the absence of 
all tradition on the subject, we suppose that he must have been 
in some manner connected with that illustrious family. 

$ One of these cloths, stained with blood, is yearly exposed in 
St. Peter’s. It is so exposed while we write these lines. 


Roman Piety . 


59 


lose a single drop. The part which generally fell 
to young girls like Praxedes and Pudentiana, was 
to keep ready at all hours the ewers, cloths, 
ointments and balsam. So it often happened that 
they spent whole nights without closing their eyes 
in sleep, when the conveyances unexpectedly came 
in filled with the remains of those who had been 
slain for Christ ; then the sweet rest of the virgins, 
together with their mother, Claudia, and their 
grandmother Priscilla, was to gather up the sacred 
relics, to wash those glorious remains, shedding 
tears of holy emotion and kissing the wounds 
hardly yet cold after the torture. Priscilla then 
sent them to the sand-pits on her estate, which thus 
received its name of Cemetery of Priscilla ; or if the 
number was too great, the pious woman gave them 
a temporary resting-place in the sand-pits on their 
own grounds. Thus, with the immense number of 
martyrs furnished by that period, the pious 
Pudentiana did the last offices of charity to several 
thousands of Saints.* 

* On this estate of Priscilla, or rather perhaps of Pudens, as 
he was her son, Priscilla herself was buried, and shortly after 
Pudens rested by her, to be soon followed by St. Pudentiana. 
In witness of the great number of Christians put to death under 
Nero, we refer the reader to Tacitus, Ann XV, 44, where he 
calls the number multitude) ingens ; and so there is nothing 
improbable in the tradition which says that St. Pudentiana 


6o Simon Peter and Simon Magus. 


Amid such occupations, these lovely flowers of 
purity and charity were opening out in the garden 
of the Church, and sending abroad the sweet odor 
of good example ; thus it was no wonder that their 
names were held in veneration even in the churches 
of distant lands, and that the noble Apostle , as 
Thecla was then sometimes called, asked them for 
tidings of Peter and Paul. Pudentiana, after 
enjoying for several days the instructions of Peter 
and Paul, thought it time to reply, and accordingly 
she thus opened her heart to her holy sister : 

“ Pudentiana , daughter ' of Cornelius Pudens , 

to Thecla , servant of God , greeting : 

“ May the peace of Jesus Christ and His holy 
grace ever increase in your heart, beloved sister 
Thecla. I reply in the name of my sister Praxedes, 
and of all our house which you have deigned to 
honor by your most precious letter. Peter and 
Paul are in Rome ; rejoice in the Lord, for they 
arrived safe and unhurt, though not without much 
fear, on our part, because of the growing persecu- 

attended to the burial of three thousand. It may be that the 
actual number was increased by confounding with those buried 
under her care, the martyrs who were deposited in the same 
place during the persecution of Domitian. Besides, be it 
remembered, that we are only writing a Legend, and not a 
dissertation on polemical archaeology. 


Roman Piety . 


61 


tion against the brethren. But of this they them- 
selves will write to the churches of Asia ; and our 
brother, Onesimus, who brought your letter, will be 
obliged to remain here until the Apostles have time 
to write.* I hastened to answer yours by means 
of my father’s messenger, in order that you may 
not have to sigh too long for the much desired 
information that Paul, your master and ours in the 
faith, removes the prohibition upon your coming to 
him ;f yet that you may not be exposed to the 
dangers of the present persecution, he recommends 
you to delay your journey until the next consul- 
ship. And now my father, Cornelius Pudens, 
directs me to offer you the hospitality of our home 
from this moment. What happiness for us all to be 
with Thecla, the martyr of Jesus Christ ! Come, 
dearest sister, come, that I may press my lips to your 
scars, though I am covered with confusion at the 
thought that I have not yet been found worthy to 
suffer anything for our Saviour and our God. Here, 

f 

too, you will find the strength you desire in the 
burning words of Paul, and the moving discourses 
of Peter. Hear, and learn our present happiness. 


* It was at about this time that St. Paul wrote his second 
epistle to Timothy, bishop of Ephesus, and St. Peter his second 
and last to the Christians in the East, 
f This prohibition is mentioned in the Acts of St. Theda. 


62 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

“-The two blessed apostles reached the house at 
night, all unexpected ; a few hours after, they broke 
bread for us. Imagine our happiness. During the 
following days, Paul, in the order of his ministry, 
visited the churches of this Babylon, as Peter calls 
our city.* Peter remains for the present retired 
within our dwelling, and takes the occasion to 
attend to the affairs of the Saints in every part of 
the world. But the brethren in Rome, more than 
any others, feel the benefit of his presence. If you 
could but see the crowd ! The men come at all 
hours, ostensibly as clients of my father, or on 
pretence of business with him ; the matrons and 
the young women came as if to visit my mother, or 
my grandmother Priscilla ; and then they are intro- 
duced into the inner apartments. We receive and 
entertain them until the number amounts to about 
fifteen or twenty with their servants or attendants. 
Then we give notice to our blessed Apostle, who 
comes to receive them in the oratory, whither we 
accompany them. 

“ The holy old man is never weary ; he sits there 
upon his chair with his eyes raised to Heaven, while 
we approach, bowing low before him, our hands 
under our sleeves, and kiss his hand which is 


* I Peter, v. 13. 


Roman Piety . 


63 


generally covered by the handkerchief with which 
he wipes away his tears. You know already that 
there is hardly a moment, even when he smiles, that 
his face is not wet with tears. Then those who 
wish to consult him privately, sit down, in turn, at 
his right hand, while we pray for them until they 
kneel for the imposition of hands. When all have 
been heard, we gather around our father to receive 
his advice. He generally inquires whether any 
discord has arisen among us, recommends us to 
practice charity, and finally dismisses us with the 
peace of Christ. I have heard Paul say that he 
never witnessed such a concourse of the brethren. 
Every day those who had allowed themselves to be 
misled by the wiles of Simon the magician, come to 
the apostles to confess their fault ; many of them 
who had even transcribed some of the magician’s 
books, bring them forward and burn them before all 
the brethren. In a word, we now witness here 
what always happens in the churches when God 
visits them by means of his ministers.* 

“ What Peter does at our house here, is done in 
the various churches of Rome, by Paul, by Luke, 
Linus, Clement and the other dispensers of the 

* Acts xix, 17-19. The books on magic, written by Simon 
and distributed among his disciples, are mentioned in the 
Apostolic Constitutions , vi, 16. 


64 Simon Peter and Simon Magus. 

mysteries of God. You know that we have now 
many churches, thanks to the goodness of God, in 
the Via Lata, on the Aventine, the Esquiline, the 
Celian, across the Tiber, about the Vatican, and in 
many other places.* The apostles counsel fasting 
and prayer, and warn us to detach our hearts from 
the world. But I fear that I shall sadden you by 
this account of our great happiness. Yet these 
very roses have also their thorns, and one especially 
sharp — the blessed apostles, in their frequent ex- 
hortations to piety, give us to understand that their 
course is run, and they seem to be preparing to take 
their final leave for heaven. 

“ Now that I have told you our sorrows, I may 
say something of our consolation^, repeating the 
words which we heard to-day from Clement, in the 
presence of Peter : ‘ My dear sisters,’ said the 
venerable pastor, ‘ the possession of heaven is not to 
be won by eloquence, nor glory, nor noble blood, 
nor beauty, nor strength ; nor is it to be gained by 
simply waiting for it ; but it is carried off by those 
whose faith is shown in good works. But he who 
sighs for the sublime and happy abode of heaven, 
must die to the world and keep himself seperated 


* These churches still stand in Rome, and boast an apostolic 
foundation, as, for instance, St. Mary’s in Via Lata, St. Prisca’s, 
St. Peter’s in Vincoli, St. Clement’s, &c. 


Roman Piety . 


65 


from it, in order to lead a heavenly and divine life, 
like to that of the angels, with a pure and unstained 
conscience. We must, by the grace of the Holy 
Ghost, serve Almighty God, firmly trusting to win 
heaven through the merits of Jesus Christ. And 
now if you desire to walk in the way and to reach 
the end of such a vocation, overcome the body, 
subdue the desires of the flesh, conquer the world 
by the Spirit of God.’ Here the preacher was 
interrupted by the uproarious shouts and laughter 
of a crowd of our unhappy citizens hastening to the 

neighboring circus of . Ah ! I dare not 

write the unholy name.* But the pious Clement, 
raising his voice, as if in indignation, continued : 
* Overcome the perishable, the base and corrupting 
vanities of the world. But to overcome the dragon, 
the lion, the old serpent, satan, it is necessary to 
cling to Christ, to nourish the Spirit with heavenly 
teachings, and to strengthen the soul by the Holy 
Eucharist.’ 


* “ Of Flora/’ — The Circus of Flora stood near the Patrician 
street and the dwelling of Pudens ; some even place it upon 
that street, and call it, not a circus, but a theatre. Vid, 
Nakdini, Roma Ant., 2d ed., p. 168. It is an established fact 
that the execrable Floral games occurred precisely at the season 
assigned to the events recorded in our legend. To-day, Rome 
consecrates to the most pure Virgin Mary the month of flowers 
formerly polluted by the Floral games. 

5 


66 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 


“ Then he went on to teach us how we should 
visit the sick, the orphans and poor widows, the 
possessed and the unbelievers. In fine, he ended 
his exhortation : ‘ Courage, then, dear sisters ! Let 
us prove ourselves true lambs of Christ’s flock, 
observing all justice and showing the sincerity of 
our faith by a pure and holy life. Take for models 
those who are remarkable for honesty, piety and 
modesty, and give them due reverence ; honor also, 
in the Lord, our fellow-laborers. If you live thus 
in Christ ; if, in all things, with His help, you live 
upright and faithful, you will be our joy, our hope, 
our life. Amen.’* 


* The substance of this discourse of St. Clement is taken from 
his Homilies or Letters to Virgins, written at about this time 
or a little later. It is hardly necessary to say that we consider 
these letters perfectly genuine, and they have been so considered, 
too, by the Protestant Welsten, as finished an Oriental scholar 
as he was a stern opponent of the Catholic Church. He was 
the first to publish them, and they appeared in Syriac, in 1751. 
They are also received as such by many learned Catholics, up to 
our own contemporaries, Mohler, Zingerle, Card, de V illecourt ; 
their genuiness has also been ably defended, not long since, by 
the Chevalier Beelen, in the Prolegomena to his literal transla- 
tion and splendid Syro-Latin edition, Louvain, 1856, 4to. The 
ceremony which we have described as taking place in the 
assembly held by the Apostle Peter, is thus described by 
Clement himself in these letters, ii. 4: — "We assemble them 
all in one place, on the right hand, and question them on their 
conduct. According to what they communicate to us concern- 
ing their interior, we exhort them in appropriate terms and like 


Roman Piety . 


67 


“ The blessed Peter showed his approval of these 
last words of his faithful minister by look and 
gesture. We felt as if renewed and re-invigorated 
by the primitive grace which we had received from 
the Holy Ghost in baptism. How should I love to 
listen to such words sitting beside you, to have my 

God-fearing men. When they are all gathered together and 
quiet we make them a little discourse with the fear of God, and 
read them the Scriptures/’ &c. Now this gathering together 
all the women in one place, placing them on the right of the 
Minister of God to give an account of their interior, and receive 
the proper advice, then the discourse in common, &c., looks to 
us like a striking comment upon these words of the Acts, xix, 
18 : “ And many of those who believed ( Trvria-nunoTav ) came con- 
fessing and declaring their deeds.” 

In short, St. Clement here refers to the manner of hearing 
the confessions of women at the time -of St. Peter and St. Paul. 
This passage receives additional light from a similar one of St. 
Basil (Reg. Brev. 110; ed. Migne, t. Ill, p. 1157) where it is 
also enjoined that the canonesses should make their confession 
in the presence of the oldest of their number; this seems to 
confirm the opinion of the learned Marchi, that the chairs which 
he found cut into the tufa of the Catacombs, were used for 
confessionals. Vid. his Archit. Christ, pp. 130 and 182, where 
he speaks of excavations made in the cemeteries between the 
Salarian and Nomentan Roads, and which evidently date back 
to the days of the Apostles ; it is not at all improbable that 
they are, according to Rossi, Roma Sotterr. t. 1, p. 184, the 
chairs “ ubi prius sedit Sanctus Petrus, ubi Petrus baptizabat.” 
As to the rite of kneeling, at least for the absolution, we find it 
mentioned in the well known passage of Tertullian : “ Con- 
fession is a discipline in which man prostrates and humbles 
himself .... to weep, to kneel to the priest, and before the 
friends of God.” 


68 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

coldness dispelled by the warmth of your devotion. 
But if it is not allowed you to come now in person 
to Rome, I certainly fly toward you with all my 
heart. I give you, in spirit, the kiss of holy love, 
as do also my sister Praxedes and the other sisters 
of the household. Receive also the greetings of 
Aurelia Petronilla, a most dear daughter of St. 
Peter.* May the grace of Jesus Christ increase in 
your heart.” 

Pudentiana, before sealing the letter, went with 
her sister, to read it to their mother. Claudia, after 
listening to the reading, said : “ My dear children, 
you would do well to put off sending it, for I much 
fear that you may soon have a sad postscript to add 
to it.” 

“ What, mother?” 

“ I can hardly tell you ; but I see Peter more 
thoughtful than ever, and he hardly speaks of any- 
thing but the great woes of the Church and the 
danger of Paul. The porter tells me that to-day 
messengers have come to Peter in great numbers ; 
so many, in fact, that one hardly waited till the 

* St. Petronilla, or Aurelia Petronilla, to whom an altar is 
dedicated in St. Peter’s, was not a daughter of the Apostle, 
according to the flesh, but in the Spirit, as is now well ascer- 
tained. The illustrious archeologist, De Rossi, makes her a 
Roman lady and perhaps a member of the Flavian house. VicL • 
his Bullet. Archeol. Christ, an. III. pp. 22, 39, 46. 


Roman Piety . 


69 


other had done. I feel an interior conviction that 
something unusual must have happened ; besides, 
Peter has directed that the number of seats for the 
assembly be doubled.” 

“ It is true,” said Praxedes, “ that for some days 
Paul has not been seen : perhaps he has fled.” 

“ God grant it !” answered Claudia. 

The little maidens did not venture to question 
their mother further, and so they remained seated 
in silence on their 'little stools at her feet. 
Pudentiana held the letter in her hand, and she 
alternately bowed her head in thought, then raised 
it, and turned her eyes upon her mother, like one 
who fears and yet desires to learn the solution of 
some doubt. Claudia perceived her trouble of mind, 
and said to her daughters : “ Go, my children, and 
see to the dining-hall ; take care that the bread be 
fresh, and twice as plentiful as usual.” 

Praxedes set to work to knead the dough, while 
Pudentiana prepared the oratory for the meeting of 
that night. She covered the wooden table with a 
clean white cloth and without the help of any of the 
slaves, disposed the benches for the men and 
women separately; she placed the desk for the 
homily, in its proper place ; then, as on account of 
long disuse, because of Peter’s absence, its gold and 
ivory ornaments were somewhat tarnished, she 


70 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

busied herself in carefully polishing everything. 
This throne was the only precious article of furniture 
in that retired sanctuary; for, in the beginning, 
before he had baptized all the members of the 
family, Peter was unwilling that any of them 
should incur the suspicion of holding social meetings 
in this part of the mansion, by the appearance of 
costly furniture there. But he could not refuse the 
gift offered by Pudens of the chair of state, that he 
might appear with proper dignity before the assem- 
bled faithful, especially in the consecration of bishops. 
Pudentiana now diligently examined every part of 
the episcopal chair, dusting carefully the back, the 
arms, the seat, and each of the miniature pilasters 
with the cross-pieces which support the seat. She 
was particularly desirous to give a special polish to 
the three little wooden columns and the bars which 
were meant to support the arms, and she accordingly 
took great pains to dust into the almost hidden 
recesses of the little arches supported by the 
columns just mentioned, and which rose up grace- 
fully to support, in turn, the finely carved and open- 
worked mouldings that crowned the back of the 
chair. Then the ivory ornaments remained. For 
these she took a fine sponge and Marseilles soap, 
and began with the raised work which adorned the 
back of the chair ; proceeded thus along the arms 


Roman Piety . 


7i 


and seat, and carefully following all the intricate 
mazes of the carving and moulding, with their rich 
profusion of flowers, figures of men and animals and 
many other cunning devices, all surrounded by a 
broad band of raised leaves and flowers. But the 
most tedious part of the work was in the eighteen 
beautiful panels which adorn the lower part of the 
chair, in front, for here it was necessary to take note 
of every line of raised work and of every intaglio of 
the storied panels as well as of the cornices which 
framed and separated them. In this long and 
tedious work the holy child was obliged to dwell 
upon each of the fancifully wrought monsters 
created by the imagination of pagan poets, the 
extravagant mythology of Hercules forming the 
chief subject of the designs, and as she came to 
each in turn, she felt her indignation renewed at 
these infamous superstitions of idolatry, and some- 
times, as if to insult satan, she addressed him almost 
aloud : “ It well becomes, thee, to be made the 

footstool of the servants of the Lord ! Against thee 
it was written that we shall trample upon the lion 
and the dragon !” At length having restored the 
sheen of the gold facings upon the chair and the 
raised figures, for it had become somewhat tarnished 
by long disuse, she finished her work by brightening 


72 Simon Peter and Simon Magus. 

the four rings intended to receive the bars of the 
bearers by whom the chair was carried.* 

The pious little maiden, having finished her 
fatiguing task, as if divining that this chair would 
one day be an object of veneration to the whole 
Christian world and the glory of Rome, knelt with 
clasped hands, and after kissing the wood, prayed to 
God : “ Blessed be God our Father, who has 
granted that Peter should sit here and teach us the 
truth !” 

Here she was interrupted by the entrance of a 
female servant, whom Claudia had sent for her. 

“ Lady Pudentiana,” said the maid, “ when you 
have finished here, your mother awaits you.” 

Her mother had sent for her to attend the 
evening meal. 

After nightfall the brethren began to assemble in 
greater numbers than usual : they seemed frightened 
and uncertain on account of the distressing rumors 


*The table upon which tradition makes St. Peter to have 
celebrated the holy mysteries in the house of Pudens, is still 
preserved, part in the church of St. Praxedes and part in the 
Lateran Basilica. The throne is the one which is venerated 
in the Vatican Basilica, where it is raised upon a splendid 
frame in the Apsis. It has all the richness and variety of orna- 
ment of which we have but sketched an outline here, and it 
bears the marks of its period, as Card. Wiseman has well 
remarked. 


Roman Piety. 


73 


which generally prevailed. Peter seating himself as 
usual, for the homily, began : “ Brethren, the days 
of the great tribulation have come upon us. Paul 
is imprisoned in the Mamertine by order of Caesar.” 
Here he was interrupted by a general and irrepres- 
sible outburst of sighs, sobs and tears. But he soon 
continued : “ Pray that God may be appeased in our 
regard and may break the chains of our fellow- 
disciple : pray that he may give us strength to check 
the scandals of the enemy of the Church, who seems 
to-day to triumph in his rage. Go in peace.” 

Peter could say no more. His heart was over- 
flowing with grief. And yet the imprisonment of 
Paul was but the first gust of the coming storm. 




CHAPTER IV. 

THE STRUGGLE. 

day which followed the seizure of St. Paul 
J the Apostle, was one of cruel joy for the 
^ numerous followers of Simon Magus. Cir- 

t, 

cumcised and proselytes, all crowded around his 
splendid residence across the Tiber, and hailed him 
as they would a conqueror. Many of his female 
disciples also came, with a great parade of litters 
and retinues, to congratulate Helen, the wife of 
Simon, and to beg, as a favor, to be admitted to 
the private oratory, there to burn some grains of 
incense before the pictures of Simon and of Helen, 
which were raised above the altar, in the semblance 
of Jupiter and Minerva.* This shameless woman, 

* It is certain that Simon Magus claimed divine honors and 
received adoration, in various forms, from Jews and Gentiles. 
Besides the fact that the Acts offer a manifest ground for this 
assertion, we have the direct testimony of the Fathers and 
ancient writers: St. Justin, Martyr, St. Epiphanius, St. Irenaeus, 

74 




filled with pride, incessantly importuned her too 
willing partner to finish with Peter also, that he 
might rule his crowd of adorers without opposition. 
Little as Simon needed such incitements, he still 
delayed because he hoped to defeat Peter in some 
public contest, and thus to bring contempt upon the 
Christ whom he preached.* * In the meantime he 
gave his attention to the increase of his party. 
Over his disciples he exercised an irresistible and 
absolute sway, after dementing them by means of 
two powerful drugs, the weaker of which was 
surpassed only by the other. He first caught them 
with the magical wonders which he had at his 
finger ends .; then he bound them to him by ties of 
the most execrable obscenity for which he had 
ample means in his secret assemblies. - )* 

the Philosophumena, Eusebius, &c. The last named writer 
(Hist. Eccl. II, 13) confirms the fact of the adoration given to 
the courtesan Helen, which had already been asserted by St. 
Irenaeus, Contra hcer. I, 23 ; and, in nearly the same terms, the 
Philosophumena , lately brought to light, say — Lib. YI, ch. I, 
20 ; Paris Ed. 1860, p. 266 — that the Simonians “ have a repre- 
sentation of Simon in the form of Jupiter, and one of Helen in 
that of Minerva; these they adore, styling the former Lord, the 
latter Lady 

* This is easily gathered from the teachings and facts com- 
monly attributed to him, and it is clearly shown in the writings 
of St. Clement ; among others, in his Pecognitiones. 

f Cf. Act. YIII, 10, 11 ; Iren. Contr. heres. I., 23 ; the 
Philosophumena, YL., I., 19; and even more clearly, Euseb. 


76 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

Among the Christians, on the other hand, all was 
mourning, weeping and consternation ; they la- 
mented the fate of Paul, and feared a similar one 
for Peter. Entrance to the palace was open to the 
magician ; the favor of Nero was his support in the 
most disgraceful acts, the courtiers showed him the 
obsequious respect due to the emperor’s intimate 
friend and the minister to his pleasures. Every- 
thing seemed to threaten the destruction of Peter ; 
the only step that now remained to be taken was 
that Simon, tired of his unequal contest, should 
avail himself of his unlimited power at court, to 
demand the blood of the apostle. “ And what hope 
can there be that he will not demand it ?” asked the 
Christians of one another ; “ if he reflects that 
Peter is daily thwarting and making useless all his 
machinations, that Peter snatches from his grasp his 
hardly-initiated victims, that Peter, by daily mira- 
cles, outshines his glory, that Peter makes war upon 
him even into the inmost recesses of the palace.” 
Some of the more fearful and timid suggested : 
“ Oh ! if Peter would but yield a little to the 


Hist. Heel. II., 13. Such always has been and always will be 
the case, from the proto-heresiarch Simon, through Arius, 
Luther, Henry VIII., to the modern Saint Simonians, Fourie- 
rists, Mormons, Spiritualists, and whatever other sects may yet 
spring from these. 


The Struggle . 


77 


pressure of the times, and withdraw among the 
brethren at Ferentino, or to some retired villa in 
Campania !”* 

But Peter, whose heart was a stranger to any such 
timid counsel, was preparing to renew the war, or 
rather the never-interrupted battle, and openly to 
present himself alone, to the whole fury of the 
storm. He well knew what hand had wrought the 
misfortune of Paul, and how his fellow-apostle had 
dared to win, from the very arms of Caesar, his 
favorite concubines, to restore them 'to the honor of 
Christian modesty; he knew that this had given 
Simon a pretext for accusing him before the 
emperor; he knew that all the palace was strongly 
moved by hatred of himself; and yet, far from 
withdrawing from the field, he still expected to gain 
ground, and meanwhile multiplied his victories.*}* 
And yet Simon, blinded by his success, no longer 
troubled by the voice of Paul, was exulting with 
fiendish joy at the thought of his splendid stroke, 
and the prospect of setting up his divine character 
on a solid foundation. He had, with deep and 

* Even the Church of Ferentino has a very credible tradition 
of having received the faith in the days of the Apostles, though 
indeed it is not generally recorded among the many Churches 
founded by St. Peter. 

f Ancient and well grounded traditions warrant this state- 
ment. Cf. Baron i us, an. 68, No. 25, 


78 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

searching perspicuity, studied the economy of 
Christ, and now he was striving to imitate the 
triumphant work of Jesus of Nazareth, presenting 
himself as the object of the prophecies, and counter- 
feiting His actions, teachings and miracles.* But 
with his usual consummate cunning he took care to 
smooth the way for all his followers, to flatter their 
belief, and to foster their passions ; in a word, he 
never spoke to any class of persons but in a manner 
and tone of studied kindness. 

He introduced himself into the dwellings of the 
new converts of the apostles, putting on an outward 
appearance of great devotion, expressing great pity 
for their austere and self-sacrificing mode of life and 
repeating with great apparent piety that “ God had 
showed His compassion for the world and on 
various occasions blessed it by his visitation, ever 
dispensing his benefits with a liberal hand and great 
condescension to human frailty. That the person 
of the Eternal Father had been manifest to the 
Samaritans, and that their law was somewhat harsh 

* There appeared, on the part of many, an impious ambition 
to pass for the Messiah, or divine person incarnate, and to 
counterfeit Jesus Christ. Yid. Orig., Tract . XXVII, sup. Matt., 
and Contr. Cels., VI, 11; VII, 9. Of Simon, in particular (Id. 
cont. Cels. V, 62,) he says: “ He hoped that, if he could but do 
works similar to those of Jesus, he might gain from men what 
Christ had obtained/’ 


The Struggle . 


79 


and austere; the Christian law, given to the Jews 
by the Son, who had become man for their sake, 
seemed to be a little milder; that finally the divine 
Paraclete had come down from heaven for the con- 
solation of the world. As for himself he asked no 
other honor than the honor due to God ; they 
might call him by whatever name they pleased, but 
they must know that, in all these incarnations of 
the divine person he himself was the one who Is, 
the great power of God, shown to the world under 
various forms, in a word the Being without begin- 
ning or end.* His law was a sweet yoke ; they 
had but to love God and unite themselves in spirit 
to the Supreme Being ; all the other precepts of the 
law could be set aside by the true believers in the 
Holy Ghost, as the Mosaic precepts had been anti- 
quated in favor of the believers in the Son. They 
should believe in Jesus Christ as a holy man and a 
prophet ; but they should also trust no less in him, 
for he was the promised Spirit, and the bearer of the 
full revelation. f Hence,” he concluded, “ I have 
sent forth my apostles, not a paltry dozen, but a 


* Iren^eus, Contr. heres. I, 23 ; and from him, Theodoretus, 
Heret. Fav. I, 1;. Act. VIII, 10; Becognit, 111, 47: Epit. of 
the acts of Peter, No. 25, (among the works of St. Clement, Ed. 
Migne vol. VII, p. 492;) Philosophum., VI, I, 19. 
f Apostolic Constitutions, VI, 10. 


8o Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 


good thirty, as a sign of greater mercy. Men 
should know that the time was past for rigorous 
laws, that the soul had nothing to fear in the last 
judgment, and, provided faith remained, any satis- 
faction of the natural appetite was lawful ; no more 
fasts, no more vain fear of meats offered in sacrifice, 
no more unnatural continence ; but a pure love and 
liberty of the sons of God.* Even idolatry, to 
which are attached so many vain fears of punish- 
ment, is not forbidden to him who keeps a living 
faith within his heart.f Turn to Helen, the sov- 
ereign apostle, a truly divine work, a child of God, 
sent for the purification of the world. Under her 
guidance and teaching you shall know the true 
light. I withdrew her from dishonor and sanctified 
her with my own hand, for I discerned, at once, her 
divine origin; revere her, for blessed is he who 
believeth in her.”J 

Then he would adroitly discover whether they 
had, by chance, any of “ those letters which Mark 
had circulated among the Roman knights,” (mean- 
ing the Gospel of St. Mark ;) and he generally 


* Recognit. II, 8 ; Const. Apost. YI, 10 ; Iren. Contr. heres. 
I, 23. 

f Orig. Contr. Cels. YI, 11. 

X Recognita II, 8; Iren, ubi sup . ; Justin I, Apol. No. 26 ; 
Philosophum. YI, I, 19. 


The Struggle. 


81 


managed to get possession of them if they had any, 
giving them, in exchange, what he called a precious 
volume containing the essence of the sacred writings, 
and abrogating all other teaching. “ Read the 
great explanation ; this is the new gospel^ the 
supreme apocalypse ; here is the word of God !”* 
Such was the language of the impostor when 
speaking to Christians ; but with the Hebrews he 
knew still better how to suit his words to their 
traditions. If they were Samaritans, he spoke in 
the highest praise of the worship on Mount Gerizim, 
he recounted the many wonders wrought by himself 
in Samaria, the incredible number of disciples he 
had left there with altars and temples dedicated to 
his name.f Then to remove from their minds all 
remembrance of the defeats he had suffered there in 
his contests with the Apostles, he always added 
that he had consented to meet Peter only to dispel 
the effects of his magic arts and to confound his 

* The great explanation or great negation y.eyax») is 

frequently quoted in the Philosophumena(L\b. VI, c. 1,) as the 
principal production of the Simonian intellect. It would seem 
that the magician, jealously anxious to have his historians, as 
well as Jesus Christ, opposed this work and name to the gospel 
or good tidings. 

f “ Nearly all the Samaritans acknowledge Simon as their 
first God, ‘and adore him.” Justin, 1st Apol. christ. No. 26 
Vide, also the works attributed to St. Clement I, Pope, Homil. 
II, 22. 


82 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

malice.* When, on the other hand, he found 
himself arguing with some good Israelite, one 
without guile or double-dealing, he managed to 
entangle his hearer in a long and elaborate discus- 
sion about Sarah of old, whose son he claimed to be, 
not indeed by any human father, but of divine 
origin. Here he would detail the incidents of his 
childhood passed amid the tents of Jacob and the 
prodigies attending his youthful growth, incidents 
all of an order above the wonderful and beyond any 
possibility of rational belief. f Yet he could quote, 
in support of all these assertions, passages of the 
Scriptures which he seemed to know by heart from 
beginning to end. And though he seemed chiefly 
concerned about those of his own race, yet he did 
not neglect the Gentiles. With them he took quite 
a different turn ; appeared in the dark colored 
mantle and with the dialect of the Attic philosopher , X 
and a Platonic style of conversation. 

He established his academy amid the quiet 

* Recognit. Ill, 46. 

f lb. and more at length, II, 9. 

JWe believe that, in Rome, he endeavored to pass for a 
Greek, or, at least, was considered as such by some ; this con- 
jecture we found upon these lines of Jttvenal, Sat. Ill, 80: 

“ Ad summam, non Manurus erat neque Sarmata nec Thrax.” 

“ Qui sumpsit pennas, mediis sed natus Athenis.” 

Which we believe to have reference to Simon Magus. But 
we shall again have occasion to consider this question. 


The Struggle . 


83 


shades of some villa on the “ Slope of Cinna,” or 
near the Nomentan Road ; and there, seating him- 
self beneath a plane tree,* after the manner of the 
“ divine Plato,” he lost himself in theories far 
transcending the vulgar comprehension, and soared 
aloft even into the sphere of the Incomprehensible 
Being. And wandering aloft, sometimes, amid 
those inaccessible clouds, he began to discourse 
about himself, declaring that he had come down 
from heaven for the restoration of blinded human 
intellect, for which he had clothed himself with the 
highest wisdom ; that Helen was that hidden 
wisdom, already adored under the name of Minerva, 
who had several times before appeared to the world, 
but always unrecognized by wretched mortals. She 
had appeared in ancient times, the Helen who had 
wrapped both Greeks and Trojans in the flames of 
war, and men did not discern beneath her dazzling 
beauty, the divine ray that lingered there ; she was 
the mother of many intelligent spirits who should 
have accompanied her as their queen, but who, on 
the contrary, had shown but aversion for her as for 
a hated step-mother ; “ well was it for Helen,” he 
continued, “ that my eye fell upon her at the critical 

* “ In Rome . . . sitting beneath a plane tree, he taught.” 
Is the direct evidence of the Philosophumena, Lib. VI, cap. I, 
No. 20. 


84 Simon Peter and Simon Magus. 


moment of her downward course. I rescued her, 
that precious gem, from the mire, and placed her 
upon the altar which she has merited, by giving her 
the hand of a husband. Give her then, the incense 
which is due to her ; to me enough has already 
been given. Syria, Palestine and Ionia already offer 
sacrifice to Simon.”* 

It would be hard to believe the effect which such 
reasonings produce, among the ignorant, and among 
those who, for their own destruction, were learned 
in the monstrous theogonies of Hesiod and Homer, 
or more recently fed on the still more extravagant 
fables produced by the great favorite of Augustus, 
Caius Julius Hyginus. But nearly always (it 
seemed by chance, but it was providential,) Simon 
Magus had hardly time to begin his work anywhere 
when Simon Peter appeared. Peter also knew how 
to adapt his tone and manner to cultivated circles 
and to ignorant individuals ; he too wore a grave 
expression, yet without the least assumption of 
prophetical or oracular wisdom ; he only asked to 

*This supposition that Simon varied his errors according to 
circumstances of time and person, seems to offer the only means 
of reconciling the apparent contradictions which are attributed 
to him in the writings of St. Clement, in the Philosophumena 
and in the other Hereseologists of antiquity. Certainly it was 
not likely that he would speak of the Homeric Helen to the 
Jews. 


The Struggle . 


85 


be heard, and then by the powerful arguments of 
his supernatural philosophy, he refuted the lies 
spread by Simon Magus, and made their absurdity 
palpably evident. Then insensibly passing from 
the dialectic discourse to the evangelical sermon, 
he preached Jesus Christ crucified ; he proclaimed 
aloud the coming of the awful judgment which God 
has placed at the end of all things, between time 
and eternity, as a curb and a check to momentary 
disorders, the beginning and the consummation of 
an infinite order. 

The hearers felt themselves compelled to yield a 
deep admiration ; they compared the empty words 
of the crafty magician with the discourse of the 
Jewish sage ; they looked at one another in 
astonishment and then exclaimed, according to the 
spirit that moved them : “ That Cynic knows how to 
play his dice 1” It is true that there were not want- 
ing weak heads to cry out : “ Good ! you want to 
make all dogs like yourself!” — “ No, he is not a 
cynic, he is one of those emissaries of Chrestus, 
escaped from the stake : away with him to the fire !” 
— “ Pretty talk, by Hercules ! But your much 
knowledge has turned your head.” — “ Stuff and 
nonsense of the circumcised ! Let him sleep off that 
new wine ! stand out of the way, or you may get 
the benefit of some of it now !” Then the crowd 


86 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

would laugh and jeer. But Peter never lost a 
particle of his spirit or self-possession, but went on 
with his discourse, which he seldom finished 
without having drawn over some new disciple who 
came to him in secret and, with true compunction 
of heart, asked : “ Philosopher, what must I do ?”* 
If the Apostle discovered that Simon had gained 
entrance into the Synagogues, as often happened, 
he never failed to appear there himself at the next 
assembly. Taking up the volume of the law, he 
opened it, and he knew well where to find the 
fitting texts, then in a few words, but words of fire, 
he crushed the heresies of Simon Magus, showing 
by unanswerable proofs that he could not be the 
promised Messiah ; “ that Simon was nothing more 
than a strolling vagabond, a vile slave of Satan 

* It must be borne in mind that it was a Koman custom, 
very common at this time, for philosophers to appear in the 
libraries, the baths and even in private dwellings, to discourse 
on moral subjects ; even Augustus used to listen to the 
areialogi, or declaimers on virtue, with great favor, even over 
his cups. Suet. Octav. 74. We know, from the Acts, how the 
apostles availed themselves of this custom of their time, to 
preach Jesus Christ, and often even the last judgment. We 
learn too what was the effect of their words ; “ His auditis com- 
puncti sunt corde et clixerunt ad Petrum ; ‘ Quid faciemus ?' 

Stupebant autem omnes Alii autem irridentes dicebant ; 

‘ quia musto pleni sunt isti.’ ... ‘ In modico suades me Chris- 
tianum fieri.' . . . . * Multse te litterae ad insaniam con- 
vertunt;’ " and many other passages bear the same witness. 


The Struggle . 


87 


from whom he received his magic powers.”* Then 
turning to the true Christ, he passed in quick 
review the promises of the patriarchs and of the 
prophets, showed them all perfectly fulfilled in Jesus 
of Nazareth, and concluded : “ Sons of the prophets 
and heirs of the Testament, now is the time to do 
penance; receive the baptism of Jesus Christ, for 
there is no other name in heaven or on earth, by 
which you may hope for salvation. ”f Sometimes, 
rapt in a spirit of prophecy, he raised his voice, and 
exclaimed in tones of solemn warning : “ Brethren ! 
trust not to the future ! Soon, all that is around 
you now, will be leveled with the ground. Already 
I see it ! A powerful enemy is coming down upon 
the walls of Sion with avenging arms; famine, 
bondage, ruin, desolation follow in his train. 
Jerusalem, thou shalt weep as thou didst rejoice at 
the sight of the sufferings inflicted upon the Son of 
God.”J 

At this awful threat the whole multitude arose in 
a tumult, the Rabbins, the fathers and mothers of 

*Such are the words quoted from St. Peter in the works 
ascribed to St. Clement, passim. 

f The sermons of St. Peter, of St. Paul and of St. Stephen, 
turn mostly upon this great truth; cf., Act. II, III, IV, V, 
VII, XIII, Ac. 

t This prophecy of St. Peter is quoted by Lactantitjs, Div. 
Just. IV, 21. 


88 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

the Synagogue,* all rushed upon him in anger as if 
he had blasphemed, and it is not easy to say where 
their madness would have stopped had they not 
been restrained by the fear of the laws and the 
recent displays of severity on the part of Claudius 
Caesar. But the most fearful scene was presented 
when the magician, in the midst of his discourse, 
saw his dreaded rival appear at the entrance of the 
Synagogue. Then the false wretch, possessed at 
once by terror and madness, trembled in every limb, 
his mouth was covered with foam, he addressed 
him directly in a tone of furious invective, striving 
desperately to crush him in the coils of his serpent- 
like dialectics. Peter allowed him to talk at will, to 
writhe and disgorge his venom ; then, in a few words 
and without effort, opening out his fallacious 
windings, he lashed him unsparingly with his 
triumphant reasoning, until the poor wretch felt the 
words he would utter broken within his own teeth, 
and like a serpent trodden under foot, he swallowed 
his own poison in the trembling silence of rage and 
despair. Such was the inexpressible majesty which 
surrounded the person of the Apostle, such the 
expression of divine power reflected upon his 

* Father and mother of the Synagogue, were titles of honor 
given to those who had deserved well of the Jewish community. 
Yid. Orelli, Inscript , No. 2522. 


The Struggle . 


89 



countenance, that the necromancer, though he 
made the most desperate efforts to take up his 
adversary’s arguments, could find nothing to furnish 
matter for a new discourse, and he ended by 
violently breaking off the conference with threats 
and challenges to a trial of magic skill. Generally, 
he turned his back upon the Apostle and with a 
hoarse roar, exclaimed : “ Old bald-head, at the first 
occasion you shall not want a slave’s cross !”* 

Though so repeatedly overcome and conquered, 
Simon still continued to enjoy a high reputation 
amongst his followers who were blinded by the fasci- 
nation of his charms. Even Nero hung upon his 
words, and carried his admiration to such lengths 
that he did not hesitate to erect a statue in his 
honor, with the inscription : “ To Simon the Holy 
G oD,”f and he was very near dedicating a temple 

* That such personal encounters took place between Simon 
Peter and Simon Magus is testified in many passages of the 
works of St. Clement, of doubtful authenticity indeed, but 
certainly very ancient ; and we find them mentioned in many 
of the ancient Fathers. In the Philosophumena (YI, I, 20) it 
is said that Simon, “ while in Rome had encounters with the 
Apostles. Peter stoutly resisted him," &c. The same is said 
by Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. II, 14. 

f The existence of this statue in Rome, “between the two 
bridges that is, on the island in the Tiber, is attested by St. 
Justin, I, Apol. No. 26; as also by several other ancient 
writers; Eusebius, St. Augustin and others. It is certain that 
in times nearer to our own, while Gregory XIII occupied the 


90 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

and offering up sacrifices to him, as had already 
been done in other places. The magician used, as 
an instrument of his art, a figure of a little boy, 
whom he swore that he had formed, not of earth, 
like the first man, but, by a display of greater 
power, of pure air ; and then having, of his full and 
divine power, killed him, he kept his image for his 
own greater glory.* * The fact is that, with this little 
picture in his hand, he could conjure up spirits, and 
make them appear in the secret assemblies of his 
initiated followers, especially in the presence of the 
Emperor Nero.f 


Pontifical throne, a pedestal was found bearing the inscription : 
Semoni Deo Fidio Sanco Sacrtjm ; from which some pretend 
to show that Justin was certainly guilty of a mistake. But 
such is not the case. The existence of this statue does not 
render impossible the existence of the other, and we do not 
believe it possible that that most learned man was unable to 
read large capitals on marble by no means old, set up in a much 
frequented place, so as to read Simoni for Semoni Sanco, a well- 
known divinity ; besides all the remaining context of the in- 
scription to the Deus Fidius, with which we are acquainted, 
(vid. Orelli, n. 1858,) would eventually have warned him of 
his mistake. The learned Father Seb. Sanguineti, treats of this 
question briefly, though fully, in his excellent work, Be Sede 
Pomana B. Petri, p. 104 et seqq. Rome, Camerale, 1867, 8 vo. 

* Pecognit, II, 13, 15. 

f This is true necromancy properly so called. It is attributed 
to Simon not only by the Clementine books (loc. cit.) but also 
by Tertullian, Be Anima, c. 57, where the description would 
perfectly suit one of our modern spiritualist exhibitions. 


The Struggle . 


9i 


At other times, as be followed Caesar through 
the halls of the palace, or formed part of his train 
as he surveyed the endless galleries of the Golden 
House, he would suddenly stop, and with his dia- 
bolical power give motion to the surrounding 
statues, which bent forward on their pedestals as if 
to do homage to their master, to the indescribable 
awe of Nero. When invited to the imperial table, 
he could, at the moment when others least expected 
it, raise a blast of wind which threatened to do con- 
siderable damage to the imperial plate, until amid 
the clatter and ringing of golden goblets, glass and 
gems, the food was raised up without any help of 
visible hands and offered to the guests ; then 
suddenly some closed door was thrown open, to 
give entrance to a train of graceful and beautiful 
forms, which gathered up the table service and re- 
placed it on the side-board ; then, at a sign from 
the magician, they grew pale, and vanished in thin 
air.* 

* At the recital of these performances of Simon Magus, some 
unreflecting persons will perhaps smile incredulously. We do 
not give them as indisputable facts of history; but we strongly 
maintain their possibility. The demon can certainly produce 
such illusions. The Sacred Scriptures (for we are speaking to 
the believers,) record some similar ones, effected by the magi- 
cians in Egypt, and by the witch of Endor. Let the reader, 
moreover, bear in mind that our necromancer here is the one 
of whom it was said: Cui auscultabant omnes a minimo usque 


92 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 


Astounded at such display of power, Nero set no 
bounds to his veneration for the divinity seated at 
his table, and he began to caress him almost like a 
suppliant, begging for himself some knowledge of 
such a wonder-working philosophy. 

“ Tell me, divine magician,” he would say, 
“what you wish from me? I am ready at your 
nod ; do you wish for gold ? My treasure is open 

ad maximum dicentes : Hie est Virtus Dei, quee vocatur 
Magna. Attendebant autem ei, propter quod multo tempore 
magiis suis dementasset eos. Act. VIII, 10, 11. There is no 
improbability, therefore, in saying that his actions in this line 
were wonderful. Wonderful, certainly, are those which are 
attributed to him in the Recognit. and in the Homilies ascribed 
to St. Clement, and which we have here mentioned in part; 
still they do not pass the bounds of belief, and it has seemed to 
us not unsafe to quote them since they are found in an old 
work of much learning. Gallaudio, a competent judge, places 
the Recognitiones in the end of the second century, and the 
Homilies in the middle of the third century. We incline to 
the opinion that they are works of the apostolic days, and from 
the pen of St. Clement whose name they bear, though interpo- 
lated and altered. Besides, all the ancient ecclesiastical writers, 
in jluding the lately discovered Philosophumena, speak of Simon 
Magus as a conjurer and a wizard. Finally we have seen too 
many examples of the same kind in our own day, under the 
various names of mesmerism, animal magnetism, spiritualism, 
&c. Is it not probable that M. Hume has been giving the same 
style of exhibitions at the Tuilleries as did Simon Magus at the 
court of Nero? Wonderful to say! call it witchcraft, and the 
modern philosophers are incensed and treat the expression as 
absurd ; call it spiritualism , — they are silent and arch their 
brows in astonishment. Pour critics ! 


The Struggle . 


93 


to you. Do you desire human victims ? infants at 
the breast ? young virgins ? All are ready for the 
knife. Provided only I can penetrate the secret 
plots of my enemies, forsee the future, and exert 
some power over the divinities, I shall have reached 
my highest ambition.”* 

And the sorcerer smiling, replied : “ All this, with 
more and better knowledge I will teach you, divine 
Caesar, when you shall have passed through the 
inferior grades of the science. But first I must show 
you the full power of my arm.” 

Then rising and standing in the middle of the 
banqueting-hall, surrounded by an infernal flame 
which played around his person, he stretched out 
his hand and said : 

“ I can, yes, I can at will make myself invisible to 
any one from whom I wish to conceal myself ; if I 
wish to fly, the mountains will open to give me 
passage ; should I cast myself down from a high 
place, the heavenly spirits would bear me on 


* Nero's passion for witchcraft and the magic art, the numbers 
of human victims slain, the entertainments with the magician, 
are historical facts. Yid. Sxjet. Nero, 34, 56; and more at 
length Pliny, Hist. Nat. XXX, 5, 7. The intimacy between 
Nero and Simon is attested by the author of the Destruction of 
Jerusalem , (II, 2,) a work attributed by some to Hegesippus, 
by others to St. Ambrose. Yid. Op. St. Amb. Ed. Migne, t. i. 

p. 2068. 


94 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

unhurt to the ground ; fire has no harmful heat for 
me, though I should pass through the midst of its 
flames ; at my nod new woods spring up from the 
earth ; nature decks my path with new flowers and 
new plants ; it is in my power to assume whatever 
form I please ; the very way to heaven is known to 
me as well as the paths of earth. He does well 
who raises statues to me and adores me.”* 

Amid the smiles of fortune now so plentifully 
showered upon him, the demoniacal wizard felt a 
sharp pang in his heart, an unrelenting torment 
which he strove in vain to escape — it was the 
successive triumphs of the Apostles of the true 
Christ. He could indeed soothe this malignant rage 
with the thought that Paul was already removed, 
and devoted to the axe ; but he could not reconcile 
himself to the sight of Peter, so nobly replacing Paul 
in the heat of the battle, that he seemed to multiply 
himself a hundred-fold to prepare all, to meet all, to 
overcome all, and yet never giving any clue by 
which to discover the hidden ways to his place of 
abode. His followers would sometimes assert, in 
their secret meetings, that they had surprised Peter 
wandering near the Septi Julii in the Broad street ;f 

* The very words ascribed to Simon Magus, in the Recognit. 
II, 9. 

f At the house of Sabina, where now stands Sta. Maria in Via 


95 


The Struggle . 

others said that they had met him strolling about 
the heights of the Aventine above the Circus 
Maximus. 

“ Take care !” replied the magician to all these 
disclosures ; “ that is an old trick of our enemies 
and of those apostate Jews” (meaning the families 
of Aquila and Priscilla). 

“ And I have seen him,” added another, “ crossing 
the Tiber near the Mausoleum of Augustus, then 
hurrying through dark by-ways along the fields of 
Cincinnatus.”* * 

“ And I,” pursued yet another, “ have found him 
at a late hour, wandering like a restless spirit, 
behind the enclosure of Nero’s circus : I tried to 
track him unperceived : but he turned back toward 
the Cestian bridge, crossed over to the alleys of the 
other side of the Tiber, and I lost sight of him.” 

At length one of the wealthiest of the Hebrew 
matrons, who was known as a Mother of the 
Synagogue, said, as if pouring out the sorrow of her 
heart, “ If things go on in this way, our synagogues 
will soon be closed. Already the one on the 

Lata. The Septi Julii correspond very nearly to the Doria 
Palace. 

*Now the Porto di Ripetta toward the plain of Castello, 
where once stood the modest farm of Quinctius Cincinnatus. 
Liv. Ill, 26. Thence across the Cornelian and Triumphal 
Roads, the road led to the valley of the Vatican. 


g6 Simon Peter and Simon Magus. 

Esquiline is forsaken, that of the Porta Capena 
almost empty,* and . . . 

“ And why ? and how ?” 

“ Cephas is emptying them for us.” 

At this Simon could contain himself no longer, 
and looking angrily around upon his followers, he 
exclaimed : 

“ Villains, wretches are they all who receive him 
into the synagogues ! Impious and mad, they who 
hear him ! They ought to bind him and send him 
to me dead or alive ! . . . . But no ! It were better 
that I should first confound him; that I should 
make him a laughing-stock, and cause him to blush 
with shame for once at least ! As for you, it is 
enough that you shut your ears against his 
perfidious enchantments.” 

“ How can we ?” asked the matron. “ He 
fascinates you by his very look, his countenance 
and gesture. His eye is fire, his voice thunder. 
He cannot be resisted. Did I not see him walking 
about through our quarter, at the foot of the 
Janiculum ? Everybody knew him, and yet no one 
dared to touch him.” 

“ Vile recreants !” 

“ Worse yet ; many invited him into their houses, 


Cf. De Rossi, Boll ett archeol. crist. ; an. Ill, p. 89. 


97 


The Struggle. 

took him to the bed-side of the sick; mothers 
brought him their lame children to be charmed.” 

“And he?” 

“ He went in boldly, signed them all with his 
magic signs, and left them sound but bewitched. 
Alas for the house of Jacob, if the Power of God 
(meaning Simon Magus who stood before her,) does 
not help it !” 

“ Nay, I will come to its assistance,” said the 
impostor, “ I will help it, and I will be the ruin of 
the Christian faction. What can Peter hope for in 
this city of Rome which is already mine ? Here I 
have statues raised in my honor, I command the 
fears of Caesar, I shall soon have temples and altars ; 
and then I shall be ready to close, with satisfaction, 
my mortal career. But first I have determined to 
dishonor and thus to crush this beggarly Galilean, 
who in every part of the world disputes my claims 
to the homage of incense ; he shall meet his end in 
Rome. But I cannot yet understand why they do 
not drive him out of their houses like a mad dog. 
What can he promise to the Romans ? To the rich 
he says : ‘ Make yourselves poor to the poor : 
* Kiss your rags to those oppressed by tyrants : 
‘ Obey to slaves : ‘ Rivet your own chains to 
ladies : * Cast aside your jewels, deprive yourselves 
of every sensual satisfaction to all : ‘ Fast, watch, 
7 


98 * Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

die to the pleasures of the world.’ Fool ! and does 
he think, with this, to make head against the 
Paraclete, the bearer of joy and of liberty. I shall 
ferret him out of his lurking-places, were he even 
hidden in the bowels of the earth. Now I know 
that he has forsaken the dwellings of the rich to 
move about amid the dirty rabble of the Vatican 
quarter ; but darkness is day to my eyes ; as I found 
Paul so shall I find Cephas. But their blood is not 
enough ; no, I must first enjoy their disgrace, their 
defeat ; I must drink deep draughts of vengeance ; 
then heaven awaits me, there I shall return.” 

The assembly rose up ; they adored the magician 
and then cried out : “ Death to Cephas ! — To the 
Gemoniae ! — Cephas to the Cross !” 




CHAPTER V. 

THE ACCUSATION BEFORE NERO. 

I ATE one morning, the master of the Golden 
House came forth from its portals, after a 
night spent in carousing amid a shower of 
roses and clouds of perfumes;* and now, intent 
upon a change of dissipation, he turned towards the 
Vatican palace, whence, after a short rest, he was 
wont to go to consume the remainder of the day- 
in the circus. But as the imperial retinue was 
turning from the Sacred Street into the Forum, 
beyond the lower Janus, Nero found himself in the 
midst of a crowd of people, mostly Jews, promi- 
nent among whom was Simon, who at once 
addressed his imperial patron : 

“Most excellent Caesar, I demand justice in a 
capital case.” 

The time was past when Nero could be found, 
like his predecessor, under the open sky, for hours 


* Suet. Nero, 31. 


99 


ioo Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

at a time, dispensing justice from his curule chair 
near the Fabian arch, and exiciting the admiration 
of his subjects by the wisdom of his decisions.* 
But now at the solicitation of Tigellinus, Elius and 
the rest of his train of freedmen, with whom Simon 
had had a perfect understanding, he yielded to the 
whim of sitting in the. tribunal to give a hearing to 
the friend who so solemnly invoked the imperial 
justice. Alighting, therefore, from his litter, he 
mounted the steps of the Comitium, near the 
Ruminal fig-tree, f traversed with majestic delibera- 
tion the lateral portico of the Julian Basilica and 
took his seat before the main entrance, opposite to 
the temple of Ops under the Capitoline hill.J 

It is needless to say that the emperor was soon 
surrounded by a numerous crowd. It was the 
busiest hour in the Forum, and all was full of civil 
cases, of lawsuits, contracts, compacts, accounts and 


* Ibid. 15; Jul. 43; Octav. 32; Tiber. 33; Claud. 15. 
f This famous fig-tree, under which Romulus and Remus 
were fabled to have played in early infancy, still subsisted in 
the time of Nero ; cf. Tacit. Ann., XIII, 58. Its position 
was near the present site of the Church of Sts. Cosmas and 
Damian, in the Campo Vaccino. \ 

X The position of this Basilica which had take the place of 
the old Comitium, though preserving its steps and something 
of its form, corresponded very nearly with that of the present 
Santa Maria Liberatrice ; the side colonade looking toward the 
Forum, would now face S. Lorenzo in Miranda. 


The Accusation before Nero . ioi 

settlements ; the porticoes of the Basilicas, the 
meetings of the municipal officers, the assemblies 
of bankers, made it like a roaring whirlpool ; the 
throng was still more increased by the great number 
of wealthy idlers, whose wont it was to spend their 
mornings about the precincts of the Forum. 

But hardly had Nero set foot upon the ground 
when the crowd began to press so closely around 
him that his Pretorians found great difficulty in 
opening a way for their master, The witnesses left 
the lawyers and the tribunal of the judge; the 
curious searchers for news who read the Acta Diurna , 
as v they slowly ascended the Capitoline hill, rolled 
up the parchment and hurried back down the slop- 
ing street ; the narrators enjoying the shade of the 
arch of Tiberius, the scribes of the school of Xante, 
the custodians of the temples and of the hundred 
shrines of the neighborhood, all ran headlong to 
swell the crowd. Even from the Vicus Jugarius, 
the mercers slipping their togas over their brown 
tunics, ran toward the Basilica; the little street 
urchins, too, who were engaged in their favorite 
games around the Rostra, threw down the nuts with 
which they were playing, rushed into the doorways 
in the attempt to secure a good standing-place ; and 
the women who were drawing water at the Servilian 
fountain, left their amphora and bucket there, and 


102 Simon Peter and Simon Magus. 

letting down the corners of their gowns which were 
pinned up for work, they too rushed into the hurry- 
ing crowd.* 

But before the throng could rush into the temple, 
the guardians of the sacred edifice had given one 
another the word in a moment, and were able, at 
every entrance, to resist the press of the multitude. 
The porters ran to secure the railings of the pre- 
torium, the soldiers on guard drew aside the 
curtains which surrounded the dais, stretched the 
carpet upon the steps of the tribunal, on which they 
placed the curule chair, the small and light tables 
with writing materials ; others quickly brushed 
away every trace of dust from the seats and ran to 
summon the scribe. The imperial guard meanwhile 
entered with their measured tread, occupied the 
central space, surrounded the tribunal with a hedge 
of lances and pikes, and planted their bright purple 


* The Vicus Jugarius corresponded to what is now the Via 
della Consolazione ; the Servilian fountain was on the left of 
the street that led to the Forum ; next came the temple of Ops, 
opposite to which, on the left, was the main entrance of the 
Julian Basilica. After passing the Basilica we enter the Forum 
through the arch of Tiberius, and find ourselves before the 
Rostra, at the foot of the Capitol. The door for egress on the 
left was called the Capitoline, outside of which passage, on the 
right, were the officers of the notaries, known as the school of 
Xante, not far from the spot where we now see the portico of 
the Dei Consenti, a work far more ancient than the time of Nero! 


The Accusation before Nero . 103 

ensigns at the gates of the enclosure. Nero, in the 
midst of his body-guard, crossed the threshold ; 
advancing between the double files of the pretorian 
guard, he entered the enclosure with great solem- 
nity, and took his seat in the tribunal. His chief 
officers and immediate attendants took their stand 
at either extremity of the hemicycle, though not 
too promiscuously to leave to Tigellinus and Elius 
a prominent place by the side of their master.* 
Then, at length, the doors were opened, and in a 
moment every avenue was thronged, the stairs 
could not hold the multitude that pressed on toward 
the upper galleries. Men, women and children 
trampled upon one another: here might be seen a 
plebeian lacerna between the laticlave of some 


* The tribunal was placed higher than the benches ( subsettia ) 
of the semicircle, the extremities of which were called the 
cornua (the wings). Such tribunals were usually placed in the 
apsis of the Basilica, and near by were the recesses to which 
the judge and his counsellors withdrew to deliberate in private, 
whence the title of secreta frequently applied to them. Some- 
times the Judge’s chair was surrounded by a kind of small 
temple, surrounded by curtains which were closed when the 
deliberation took place; for this reason it is called cedes by 
Vitruvius. It may be well to quote the passage ( Be architect 
V., ch. I, No. 14,) in order to give some idea of the size of a 
praetorium : “ Tribunal quod est in ea aede hemicycli schematis 
minoris curvaturse formatum. Ejus autem hemicycli in front© 
est in ter vallum pedum quadraginta sex, introrsus curvaturse 
pedum quindecim.” 


104 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 


pompous senator and the augusticlave of a wealthy 
knight ; the long-sleeved tunic of the noble matron 
was mingling its folds with those of the ragged 
dress of some poor plebeian wife ; veils were ruffled 
and torn into shreds, such was the eagerness to 
secure a place in the temple, and to enjoy the sight 
presented below; while new-comers crowded in on 
all sides in such numbers that not only the interior 
of the Basilica was thronged, but even the porch 
and the avenues that led to it overflowed with 
people. 

Amongst those who stood nearest to the tribunal, 
there was one man wrapped in a Grecian cloak and 
surrounded by a numerous band of followers, who 
had pressed close upon the imperial escort and had 
taken their stand immediately around the railing of 
the enclosure. These men were there in the hope 
of witnessing some new spectacle, for the real 
bloody trials over which Nero was wont to preside, 
were usually held with closed doors in the interior 
of the Palatine. They only whispered to one 
another: “That is Caesar’s friend!’’ — “The Jewish 
magician !” — “ Simon, Simon !’’ — “ Icarus, Icarus !’’ 
These various remarks were silenced by the herald, 
who with two blasts of his trumpet summoned 
Icarus to prefer his charge. The gates of the 
inclosure were thrown open and Simon, with great 


The Accusation before Nero. 105 

pomp, advanced to the centre of the prsetorium, 
followed by his endorsers and witnesses. Having 
saluted Augustus and his council, he was preparing 
to open his harangue. But Caesar, who was not 
inclined to prolong the sitting, sent him instructions 
by a private messenger who whispered into his ear : 
“ Be quick 1” 

The message had not fallen upon deaf ears. 
Simon condensed into a few words his accusation 
against Peter and the Christians. He stated “ that, 
as a Jewish philosopher, he felt a pleasing hope in 
being thus allowed to bring his complaint before the 
most excellent Caesar, who had always favored the 
Jewish cause, and protected its innocence against 
the faction of Christ, a faction ever disturbing the 
public peace. In this Nero Augustus showed 
himself worthy of his deified predecessors, the 
divine Julius, Octavius and Claudius, most clement 
protectors of that nation. The Jews indeed, 
preserved their own mysteries, though without any 
detriment to the divinities of mighty Rome ; they 
did not bring in any new religion condemned by 
the imperial edicts,* but remained within the 

* Besides the persecution raised on the ground of the burning 
of Rome, Nero made a law of extermination against the 
Christians. Among others, Stjlpicius Seveetjs affirms this in 
his Hist. Scicr. II, 41. We may refer the reader, too, to De 
Rossi, Bollett. Archeol. crisi. ann. Ill, p. 93 et seqq. 


io6 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 


provisions of tjie law. Not so the Christians, those 
incorrigible sowers of scandal. They had already 
provoked the wrath of the deified Tiberius, raised 
tumults under the divine Claudius, and had lately 
perpetrated the most execrable of outrages, by 
setting fire to the home of the whole world ; each 
hour the heaps of ruins where had once been so 
many flourishing quarters, which, but for the 
generous piety of the divine Nero, would have 
remained in ashes, cried out against the sacrilegious 
attempt. Ordinary punishments would not avail to 
check their boldness ; Paul, a Roman citizen, had 
blown up a flame of rebellion in the Synagogues of 
the Jews in Rome, pretending that a man executed 
by Pontius, Governor of Judea, had risen from death 
to life, and was entitled on that account to the 
homage given to Jupiter Best and Greatest, and to 
every other divinity. That this Paul had once 
already been sent to Rome, in chains, and saved 
from death only by the mercy of Augustus, and 
was now repaying that favor by using every 
endeavor to turn away the Romans from their 
belief in the divinity of Poppea.* But Paul,” he 

* Nero after killing his wife Poppea, by brutal treatment, 
thought to make her a goddess, and among the false charges 
upon which Trasea Peto was put to death, one was, " Poppeam 
divam non credere.” Tac. Ann. XVI, 22. 


The Accusation before Nero . 107 

continued, “cared little for their prisons; it was 
their duty to remove a man whom sacrilege and the 
Julian law of treason concurred in condemning to 
death. And now a certain Cephas, a ragged fellow 
from Galilee, under the assumed name of Peter, not 
terrified by the punishment of Paul, was fanning the 
flame of discord lighted by him, and trampling 
upon every law, human and divine. They held in 
the deepest contempt the deified Poppea now seated 
between Juno and Minerva, they openly despised 
all the divinities, setting up, in their stead, a criminal 
punished by the Roman law, to whom no thanks 
were due that Capitoline Jove was not hurled from 
his pedestal. Peter,” continued the indefatigable 
accuser, “ uses all the most wicked arts to carry out 
his unlawful work ; in his hands are always charms 
and poisons ; nay, he is perhaps even now preparing, 
in his secret assemblies, the torches for a second 
conflagration. Though absent now, still he is 
convicted on his own confession ; for instead of 
showing himself, like an honest citizen, in the open 
light of day, he moves about in the dark, leads a 
roving life, like a beast of the forest, without roof or 
fixed abode ; appearing only when most unlooked- 
for, like a spirit of evil, in the sacred assemblies of 
the Jews, and then only to spread fire and flame and 


108 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

fury, and disappearing as suddenly as he had come. 
On these grounds,” he said in conclusion, “ I claim 
the protection of our sacred laws and the justice of 
the most clement Augustus.” 

Nero rose from his chair and assuming a grave 
tone said to those who stood about him : “ Paul is 
already in prison, is he not, Tigellinus ?” 

Tigellinus nodded affirmation. 

“ Peter,” continued the emperor, “ is still at large ; 
see that you find him.” 

“At any rate,” suggested Tigellinus, “we can 
make note of the names of the guilty and set about 
securing Cephas : I shall make it my duty to entrap 
him ; and then we can fix a' certain day for 
his trial.” 

The suggestion was favorably received by Nero, 
who ordered the herald to proclaim that the charge 
should be drawn up and signed. Simon had taken 
care to prepare it beforehand and his tablet was 
read : “ I, Simon Icarus, assert that Paul a Roman 
citizen of Tarsus, and Cephas, otherwise called 
Peter, a Galilean, have spoken and acted in an 
impious manner towards the gods, against the 
divinity of the deified Poppea, against the majesty 
of Caesar, against the lives and safety of the citizens ; 
they have preached new and forbidden super- 


109 


The Accusation before Nero. 

stitions ;* and now I claim the exercise of the law 
against Peter and Paul.” 

Simon’s charge was supported by his followers, a 
certain Menander, his fellow-countryman from 
Samaria, by Annubio, a philosopher, by Cleobius, a 
fanatical disciple, and many others ; f and they had 
their testimony recorded by a notary. Then 
Augustus ordered the curtains, which surrounded 
the tribunal to be closed, wrote an order and gave it 
to the herald. When the veil was again drawn 
aside a deep silence reigned throughout the vast 
Basilica while the herald read the following decree : 
“ It seems good to Caesar that order be taken by 
Tigellinus, Prefect of the Praetorium, to investigate 
this matter, to summon the accused, to obtain 
testimony and proceed according to law. You are 
dismissed.” 

Thus closed the first act of the trial, and as the 
people were gradually dispersing, here and there 
might be heard such expressions as : “ So, he is 

* That Peter and Paul were condemned to death on the 
charge of introducing a new religion, is clearly stated by the 
author of the “ Deaths of the Persecutors/' ch. 2. And this 
was generally the charge brought against the Christians, genus 
hominum superstitionis novce et maleficce : so speaks Suet. 
Ner : 16 ; and Tac. passim. 

f These names and facts may be found in St. Iben^us, conlr. 
hceres. I, 23 ; and in the works ascribed to St. Clement, passim. 


no Simon Peter and Simon Magus. 

taking a fancy to play the Judge !” “ Pretty justice, 

indeed, to arraign as a criminal an absent man on 
the mere word of a Greek impostor !” “ It might 
pass in the case of the Jew; but for the other one 
who is a Roman citizen, why not give him a 
hearing, why keep him locked up in prison ?” 
Once more a loud murmur of voices arose in the 
Basilica. The greater part of those present 
troubled themselves about neither plaintiff nor 
defendant, but tried to secure a place on the way of 
the emperor. Meanwhile Nero had drawn his obese 
body from the praetor’s chair, and after stretching a 
little his long and misshapen limbs, began to 
descend the steps of the tribunal. Here he met 
Simon, whom he accosted familiarly with the 
question : “ I met your wishes, did I not ?” 

“Jove himself could not have judged better,” 
replied Simon. “You need nothing now but the 
thunderbolts with which ter strike down the 
impious.” 

“ Vulcan is already forging them. But remember 
that the bird of Jove is still wanting. Do you forget 
your promises ?” 

“ Not I,” exclaimed the impostor, “ I promise 
and I fulfil.” 

“ But when ?” 

“ On the first day of the Neronian Games.” 


1 1 1 


The Accusation before Nero . 

— — 

“ Pshaw !” broke in Tigellinus, “ it is a long time 
yet to the Neronian Games ; and you know that 
meanwhile Augustus intends to visit Achaia ” 

“ No, no,” interrupted Nero, “ it is not so long ; 
for I have determined to anticipate the usual time 
for them, and to have them celebrated before I leave 
Rome.* Let it remain so. Let it be the first day 
of the Neronian festival.” 

This conversation was finished as they reached 
the portico in front of the Basilica, and the imperial 
cortege was about to descend the steps towards the 
Forum, just before the Rostra, when Simon standing 
upon the highest step and raising his voice so that 
the surrounding crowd might hear his words, 
exclaimed while he pointed with his outstretched 
forefinger : “ Behold, Augustus, the crowned brow 
of Capitoline Jove ; behold the divinity who sees 
and hears us ! There, at his feet, will I sacrifice a 
bull, on the first day of the Neronian Games, at the 
third hour, and after taking counsel with my 
Minerva, I shall wing my flight toward heaven, 
hover in the airy space over this Forum of Rome, 
and rising above the Basilicas will salute your 

*The Neronian Games, instituted by Nero, were in fact 
celebrated, as is remarked by Suet. Nero, 21, before liis 
departure for Achaia. This journey took place about the 
month of October, in the year 66 of the Christian era. 


1 1 2 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 


Colossus, which rears its head aloft, worth) 7 rival of 
the Capitoline Jupiter; I shall bid farewell to the 
Lares of your Golden House, and, scaling the 
clouds, finally reach my resting-place in heaven.”* 

* The colossal statue of Jupiter looked down upon the Forum ; 
that of Nero stood below at the opposite extremity of the 
Forum, behind several public buildings and basilicas. The 
foundation of its pedestal may still be seen near the Colosseum. 
The peculiar devotion to the Lares, of which Simon made 
profession, is remarked by the author of the JPhilosophumena, 
and by St. Irenaeus. 




CHAPTER VI. 
trepidation. 

HE Apostle of the Gentiles, the leader and 
J master of the Word, the great Paul, was in 
chains ; now no more should the trumpet tones 
of that mighty voice, which aroused the multitudes 
and daily brought new believers into the fold, ring 
out in those assemblies of the neophytes, in the 
synagogues of the Jews, in private dwellings and in 
public squares. 

Peter, though deprived of his holy brother 
Apostle, was not less constant in his divine mission. 
In the very beginning of these troubles, after taking 
measures to appease God by prayers and fasting, he 
resolved to leave his quiet abode on the Viminal, 
whence he made his daily round to the several 
churches, and to transfer his headquarters into the 
very midst of the scene of action. But Simon 
Magus spoke truly when he complained to Nero, 

8 1 13 


1 14 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 


that his implacable rival never remained in one 
place. For Peter spent one night on the Vatican, 
the next across the Tiber, and another in some 
other quarter of the city ; wherever there was to be 
found a little band of Christians he was there. He 
appeared, now, in the open light of the day, again 
amid the darkness of the night, in the private dwell- 
ings and in the Basilicas of the Sacred Street and 
the Forum, amid the most thickly peopled 
quarters, and in the most deserted, and even at times 
in the very palace of the emperor, to comfort and 
strengthen the faithful of Caesar’s household ; and 
no one could tell where Peter was to be found at 
any particular moment. 

Touching beyond all description was the scene 
which preceded his departure from the hospitable 
palace of Pudens. One evening, about sunset, as 
the Apostle was in prayer, rapt, as usual, in high 
contemplation, suddenly a knock was heard at the 
door of his retired apartment ; it was Claudia Sabi- 
nilla who came to announce that it was the hour at 
which they might break their fast. She always 
came herself, for she would not have missed any 
occasion of proving her devotion to her holy guest ; 
she was always accompanied by Pudens, and fre- 
quently by the Christian members of the household, 
or by others of the brethren who requested it as a 


Trepidation . 


”5 


favor. This time, however, she was followed only 
by her daughters. She brought a part of a small 
loaf of brown bread in a clean towel ; Praxedes 
carried a bottle of water in a cooler, and a silver 
goblet ; while Pudentiana held a little dish of sweet 
lupines. This latter dish alone formed the usual 
meal of the Apostle ;* but when the holy penitent 
saw this comparatively sumptuous repast set before 
him now, he smiled as he looked at the young girl 
and said to her : “ May Jesus repay you well, my 
little lupine-girl, and you, too, good sisters.” They 
bent forward to kiss his reverend hand and Claudia 
spoke : 

“ Father, it is painful to me to see you refuse all 
other refreshment, and yet ” 

“ Oh ! no, sister, let it not trouble you : any other 
diet would be more injurious than profitable to me; 
we are now in a season of affliction and tears, and 
the time for bloodshed will soon be here. With 
this light diet I shall be better prepared to do my 
duty in the contest.” 


* “ Naught but lupines graced Peter's frugal board," says St. 
Gregory Nazianzen in his “Praises of Virtue," Carm. II, v. 
550, Opp. Ed. Mign£, t. Ill, p. 720. And here we must re- 
mark that this trait of St. Peter is quoted by the illustrious 
writer as a well-known fact, and as one viewed in the same 
light as the austere lives of St. Paul, St. John Baptist and other 
saints. 


1 1 6 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

The mother and daughter both sighed deeply, 
and Pudentiana covered her face with her hand. 
Peter perceiving her emotion, kindly said to her : 
“ Why are you grieved ? It was foretold by our 
Lord ; it will be for my good and for that of the 
whole church. Would you have me turn away 
from him who is to bind me ? too much already 
have I avoided the enemy, — now it is time to imitate 
my Divine Master.” 

“True,” answered the holy virgin, “but our 
Divine Master did not fix the time, and you are now 
hastening it.” 

“ Not I,” replied the Apostle, “ but Christ hastens 
it. He has allowed that our Brother Paul, that 

great pillar of the church, should be broken, ” 

and here the voice of the Apostle grew tremulous 
while a great tear rolled down his already furrowed 
cheek. “ I can no longer hide it ; I feel that I must 
go forth from this retreat and hasten to the rescue 
of Israel.” 

“ Why, do you not do that every day ?” asked 
Claudia. “ Do you not go out every day to preach ? 
If anything is wanting in our hospitality, you have 
only to speak, and you shall b#instantly obeyed. 
You know well that you are the only master in the 
house. Pudens would be inconsolable should you 
leave us to make your home elsewhere.” 


Trepidation . 


II 7 

“ No,” replied Peter, “ I do not leave your family ; 
I bear it always in my heart, and in time I shall 
return to this little apartment. But now all Rome 
must be my dwelling.” 

At this point of the conversation Pudens came in, 
and learning the subject of the discussion, made 
every effort to dissuade the Apostle from his 
purpose, but without avail. He represented to him 
that he had, on that very day, learned from Deme- 
trius, that Simon Magus was concocting new plans 
against the Apostle, and intended to accuse him 
before Nero. 

“ Another reason,” said the saint, “ for removing 
from here as soon as possible ; I would not for the 
world be seized in the house of a man of your rank ; 
you know how bitter Nero is against the Senators.”' 

“ I know, I know,” answered Pudens, “ he puts 
them to death one after another ; but should you, 
on that account leave my house, you would be 
doing a great wrong to a devoted son ;” these last 
words the Senator pronounced with a look of 
earnest pleading and with his hand pressed upon 
his heart. “ You know well,” he continued, “that I 
do not prize my own life more.” 

“ You are not alone,” said the Apostle, alluding 
to the danger of the whole family ; at which Claudia 


1 1 8 Simon Peter and Simon Magus. 

and her daughters, threw themselves at the feet of 
the Saint, while Claudia exclaimed : 

“ Ah ! holy Father, let not our danger, if indeed 
danger it be, remove you from our roof. Would 
that we were worthy to suffer for Jesus Christ as 
our brethren have done !” 

Praxedes joined her entreaties to those of her 
mother, while Pudentiana, the youngest, too timid 
to speak, remained on her knees, her hands clasped 
in earnest petition, and seconding far more forcibly 
than words the mute eloquence of her tearful eyes. 

“ Come,” said Peter at length, “ do not give way 
to excessive grief. I know well that you would all 
consider it as a great gain to suffer for the Lord 
Jesus ; but it is a part of my duty to spare my 
children every unnecessary occasion of trouble. If 
I am seized in public or in the house of some poor 
man, no one will be endangered ; but if taken here, 
great evils might result to the Roman Church. Let 
us, then, be as wise as serpents. And then, you 
understand, this is not my only reason. At all 
events, be consoled; I shall often visit you, especially 
at the hour of meeting here for the holy sacrifice.” 
This promise seemed to revive them a little. “ Mean- 
while,” continued Peter, “ I leave to you the care of 
watching over Paul and comforting him a little in 
his chains.” 


Trepidation . 


119 

“ Oh, Father !” cried Pudentiana, unable longer 
to contain her emotion, “we have prayed so ear- 
nestly, we have sent so many messengers, we have 
tried every means — and that prison cannot be 
opened !” 

“ Yes,” added Claudia, “we have tried a hundred 
ways of sending. him some relief; the guards are 
inexorable, Tigellinus has had him consigned to the 
centurion of the guard, as guilty of high treason, 
with orders to keep him in the closest confinement. 
Oh ! if poor Thecla knew this !” 

“ Well ! write to her,” said Peter, in a decided 
tone, “ write to her in my name, and tell her to 
come to Rome when she can make it convenient. 
She shall not be without her consolation.” 

The girls were a little cheered by this gleam of 
hope. Peter, after making the sign of the cross 
over the table, began to peal the lupines, mean- 
while continuing to speak words of kindly comfort 
to his hosts. But this was to be the last time. 
That night, when darkness had settled upon the 
city of Rome, he rose from prayer, called around 
him the devoted household of the Senator; amfd 
their tears and sobs, he gave them a special blessing, 
and a moment after was on his way to the Vatican 
Vale. 


120 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

“ Where is Peter ?” asked the faithful on the next 
day. 

“ No one knows,” was the reply. 

“ The only thing that we do know,” said a second, 
“is that last night he officiated in the Church on 
the Aventine.” 

“ And the other day,” added a third, “ he held an 
assembly and baptized in the Ostrian cemetery. 

“ He was seen in the sand-pits of Lucina, on the 
Aurelian road,” continued another, “ catechizing the 
neophytes. We heard, then, that he was to spend 
that day on the Viminal, at the house of Pudens.” 

“ No, that cannot be ; this morning at dawn he 
was already moving through the streets on the 
Vatican, and among the alleys of the lime burners.” 

“ And I saw him at twelve o’clock, walking 
openly along the streets on the other side of the 
Tiber.” 

“ And no one laid a finger upon him ?” 

“ No, indeed ! He goes where he will, no door 
seems to be closed to him. They say that even the 
Jews go in such numbers that they have to form a 
line at his door; they bring him their sick, their 
blind, their deaf and their cripples. He has only to 
bless them and cures seem to rain down upon them 
all. Those who cannot manage to get themselves 
before him, try to touch the hem of his cloak, and 


Trepidation. 


I 2 1 


they draw wonderful virtue from it. Why, his very 
shadow cures the sick, as it passes over them.” . 

“ Not only the sick ! He has even raised a dead 
man.” 

“ Ah ! what did Simon Magus say to that ?” 

“ He is worrying and pining away ; and the worst 
of it is that the dead man was a youth, I don’t 
remember the name — but a distant relation of 
Caesar’s.” 

“ So it is not without reason that Rome is full of 
Peter’s miracles ;* they are the common talk ; this 
is something different from Simon Icarus !” 

“ And yet many are gnashing their teeth rather 
angrily at it all.” 

“ Yes, the emperor and the devil and those who 
believe in them. As for me, I am for Peter! Let 
who will be wroth — may Christ triumph !” 


* The continual miracles of St. Peter, are attested by the Acts 
of the Apostles, II, 43; III, 7; V, 12-15; &c. To those es- 
pecially which were performed in Rome, beside the presumption 
afforded by the Acts, we may find allusion in Lactantius, (or 
whoever else the author may be). De mort. persec. ch. 2; in 
the author of the work De Excid. Hieros. II, 2 ; among the 
works of St. Ambeose, Ed.' Migne, t. I, p. 2068. Oeosius 
( Histor VII, 6) says expressly. — “ Petrus. . . Romam venit et 
salutarem cunctis credentibus fidem fideli verbo docuit, poten- 
tissimisque virtutibus approbavit.” The account of the raising 
of this dead man is taken from the Clementine books and from 
other old annals. 


122 Simon Peter and Simon Magus. 

Thus were the faithful encouraged and rejoiced by 
the glories of the Apostle. But when they heard of 
the capital charge brought him by Simon Magus in 
the Julian Basilica, and knew that the report was 
spreading that Tigellinus had been directed to lay 
violent hands upon the Saint ; then the tender filial 
affection of the neophytes toward their beloved 
Father, at once changed all their sentiments. He 
could no longer appear in any Christian family, 
much less in the Churches in his regular visitations, 
without finding himself beset with a hundred affec- 
tionate petitions to withdraw himself from the 
threatening danger. They urged that “ Paul was 
already in chains ; what would become of the flock 
if its chief pastor were also taken away? What 
good could come of his throwing himself into the 
grasp of cruel, faithless, brutal and insolent enemies ? 
He would have to endure a few months only of 
retirement ; meanwhile Simon Magus would, of 
himself, fall into disrepute. Caesar, in his natural 
fickleness, what with the troubles and disorders in 
Greece, would perhaps change his mind and his 
views ; then Peter might resume the field, and 
preach without opposition.” The holy Apostle 
received these affectionate demonstrations of his 
children with paternal tenderness, and generally 
answered by a smile which seemed to say : “ The 


Trepidation. 


123 


time is past when Peter could tremble before the 
enemies of Jesus Christ.” 

Meanwhile the season had come which was 
considered most favorable for the journey to Achaia ; 
Nero had appointed a day for the Neronian Games, 
at which time Simon Icarus was to fulfil his famous 
promise of flying up to heaven. It was well known 
that if the magician could manage in any way to 
satisfy Nero’s curiosity to witness a feat so 
wonderful, he would from that time forth find the 
way clear for his every wish and that nothing could 
then save Peter from his ravenous claws. His 
Jewish partisans, now discouraged by the renown of 
Peter, would take courage and would not rest until 
they had given up the Apostle, alive or dead, into 
their master’s hands. That malicious and im- 
placable witch, Helen, already seemed to have a 
hundred hounds in leash, ready to let loose against 
the hated foe of her worthy consort. 

Such were the fears of the Christians. There 
was accordingly a redoubling of prayers to God 
and pressing solicitations to the beloved Apostle 
that he would withdraw from Rome before the 
destructive storm. But Peter could not bring him- 
self to yield one inch of the ground in a battle 
fought for the name and the glory of Jesus Christ. 
So he was inexorable, would not discuss the matter, 


t 


124 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

and nerved his soul to constancy. Heavenly bright, 
to his eyes, was the promised palm of martyrdom.* 
The few days which immediately preceded the 
Neronian games were marked by an almost nervous 
excitement in Rome. The^ whole city resounded 
with the note of preparation ; the schools of music 
re-echoed with the rehearsals of harpers and 
musicians ; everywhere numerous instruments were 
being tuned into harmony for the theatres ; singers 
were training their throats to bird-like trills, to 
almost reckless fugues, and aiming perseveringly 
at unapproachable flights ; chariots were being 
decorated for the race-course, and the steeds 
prepared for the display ; in the training-school and 
gymnasium was heard the sound of all athletic 
sports mingled with the whistling of the charioteer’s 
whiplash ; the libraries were filled with orators and 
poets sweating over their labored eulogies of 
Augustus, while all the citizens longed for the 
immoral entertainments of day and night which 
they knew would characterize the Neronian orgies. 
Many even were looking up Grecian palliums and 
slippers, or military cloaks and hoods, in order that 
their holiday dress might be in keeping with the 


* John XXI, 18 ; St. Ambk. Sermo contr. Auxenlium, n. 13, 
Ed. Migne, t. II, p. 1010. 


Trepidation . 


125 


Grecian license brought into Rome.* The people 
poured in crowds to the theatres to see the stu- 
pendous masses of rock and fortress scenery ; but 
the chief subject of all conversations and of anxious 
curiosity was the expected flight of the new Icarus, 
who was looked upon by all with feelings somewhat 
akin to awe. 

Pudens, laying aside, for the occasion, something 
of his senatorial dignity — a policy then necessary to 
preserve life — learned most of the current rumors, 
partly by adroitly mingling in the crowds of com- 
mon people or of the hangers-on about the taverns, 
and partly by reports from trusty scouts both 
heathen and Christian, whom he had distributed 
about the baths and the market-places. Demetrius, 
the Cynic, was his master-workman ; he came often 
to report, for he knew how to enjoy a senatorial 
supper, a thing not wholly contemptible even to a 
philosopher of the straitest sect. 

“ Well !” said Pudens to the philosopher, as the 


* Suet. Nero, 12; Domit. 4, Tacit. Ann. XIV, 20-21. 
Even then, honorable pagans were disgusted at the excesses of 
the Neronian Quinquennalia. But what could they do? 
“ Pluribus ipsa licentia placebat, ac tamen honesta nomina 
prcetendebant and amongst other names, the education of the 
people. We see such lights, even at the present day, at the 
exposition at Paris, and hear similar apologies for them. 
“ Nihil sub sole novum !” 


126 Simon Peter and Simon Magus. 

latter entered the atrium of the palace : “How goes 
the market?” 

“ All in comedies and street-corner gossip,” was 
the reply. 

“ But new comedies, eh ?” 

“ No, indeed ; all old ; old as the beard of Father 
Tiber” 

“ Ha ! I remember that your tongue does not 
easily get into play until your throat has been a 
little moistened ; Maurius !” — to a slave who was 
just entering from a pantry at the side of the hall* 
“ bring a seat here opposite to me for our Diogenes. 
Well now ” — turning to Demetrius and taking him 
by the ear — “where do you come from ?” 

“ From a hundred places ; from the Campus 
Martius, from the Portico of Octavia, from Pompey’s 
Theatre, from the Thermae of Agrippa, from the 
Circus Maximus, from the Forum, from the street- 
corners across the Tiber, from the Septi Julii . . .” 

“ Enough ! enough !” — interrupted the Senator — 
“ it is a particular providence that you do not come 
too from Armenia and India at one bound. But 
come ! What good morsel do you bring me ?” 

“ The morsel and the flavor I expect from you. 
Is it not your dinner-hour ?” 

*The dining rooms and pantries generally opened in the 
atrium or hall. 


Trepidation . 


1 27 

Yes, but not the hour for dining gratis ,” replied 
the Senator ; “ here you make your dinner on dry 
bread unless you bring the news of the day.” 

‘ That is a good one ! Do you not see with 
your own eyes what preparations are made for the 
Quinquennalia ? Have you not heard the lowing 
of oxen at the Septi Julii? Have you not heard 
the Pindars and Homers putting themselves out of 
joint to sugar their Jove of the Sewers? Are you 
not sufficiently stunned by this tumult of men an*d 
women, beasts and demigods, all crowding and 
pushing forward to the lists? You gentlemen of 
the purple robe, stretched at ease in your litters, 
never touch the ground ; you do not know what we 
poor mortals are doing here below ; but I do, for I 
nearly broke my shin against one of those infernal 
benches in the Forum — may Jove send a thunder- 
bolt through him that put them there !” 

“ Pshaw ! pshaw ! What a noise about a stumble ! 
But you have no doubt been enjoying the splendid 
sight presented by the Golden House ” 

“ May it sink into the pit ! 

“Roma domus fiet: Veios migrate, Quirites; 

Si non et Veios occupat ista domus.”* 

*“A11 Rcme is made one house; you may go to Veii, 
Quirites, unless indeed this house embraces even Veii.” This 
was a pasquinade of the times, in allusion to the boundless 


128 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 


“Away with your street-jokes! You had better 
take counsel of the bird that flies to-morrow. What 
do they say of the magician at the palace ?” 

“ Nothing that I know, except he will either fly 
to-morrow or break his neck in the attempt. It is 
the common opinion.” 

“ But do you believe it ? Are you too, perhaps, 
another one of those silly birds ?” 

“Yes, by the gods!” replied Demetrius, puffing 
vigorously ; “ I believe it over and over again, and 
I would that Simon Icarus could carry off on his 
shoulders his great master, too !” 

“ And whither, pray ?” 

“To heaven; to the highest peak of Olympus; 
to the bosom of Jove ; if they would only take their 
start from the Tarpeian Rock or the Gemonise, 
poor little innocents !” 

“ No danger !” said Pudens. “ He will not be 
likely to risk hurting even his little finger. To- 
morrow morning everybody will be looking for 
Simon ; — he is not about — where is he ? — Nobody 
knows ? — Which way did he go ? — Hum ! — And 
you poor fellows there in the Forum with your 
noses turned up towards heaven, will be brought 

extent of the Golden House which took in part of the Palatine, 
Ccelian and Esquiline hills with the valleys between them. Vid. 
Suet. Nero. 39 . 


Trepidation . 


129 


down to earth again by the herald’s proclamation : 
‘ Quirites, you may go. The bird has flown during 
the night ; you are fools who believed in him.’ ” 

“ Ah ! as to that, no ! No, certainly ! I am 
willing to bet my head on it. It will be a flight 
either to heaven or to hell ; either Phaeton’s chariot 
or Charon’s boat. You know of what stuff His 
Majesty is made. When he has once said : ‘ Take 
hold of the moon with your teeth it may cost a 
little straining, perhaps, but there is no getting off.” 

“ But if the bird quietly gives you the slip during 
the night, will you expect to catch him to-morrow 
by throwing a little salt upon his tail ?” 

“ Everything is possible except that. There is 
very little choice left him in the matter. Since the 
day when Icarus made his famous boast there in 
the Forum, swearing to fly up to heaven, Nero 
considers him bound to himself ; and now he has 
only to keep his promise or to take the conse- 
quences.” 

“ What ! does he keep him chained ?” 

“ Not at all ! He keeps him like a god upon the 
altar; but under lock and key. In fact by means 
of a fair exterior and fine words he keeps his bird in 
the cage ; he gives him a golden ring to perch in, 
if you will ; golden cups, golden food, all gold, 
gold, gold ; but woe to him if he shows the least 
9 


130 Simon Peter and Simon Magus. 

inclination to make his escape ! He will wring his 
neck on the spot, or give his body to the lions in 
the circus.”* 

“ And how does Simon take this diet ?” 

“ Oh ! quite naturally. He plumes himself, 
nestles his feathers, flaps his wings, and bows his 
thanks to my lord, pretending to accept all his 
incense. Every day he is closeted for hours with 
his august friend and pupil.” 

“ Pupil in what?” 

“ Oh, in everything. He is a grammarian, a rhet- 
orician, geometer, painter, a master in the art of 
preparing ointments, and in fortune-telling. He is a 
skilful acrobat, physician, magician, &c., and every 
day he swears and swears again that he will fly.”f 


* Dio Chrysostom, a contemporaneous writer says expressly 
(Orat. XXI) : “ No one dared contradict Nero in anything, 
nor answer to any command of his that it was impossible; so 
that if he had commanded one to fly, even in that he must be 
obeyed, and the poor man was kept for a long time at court, 
near the emperor’s person, (wfw a : j<rZ eu roi? @xnkuoif,) just as 
if he were really expected to fly after that.” This looks like an 
evident allusion to the case of Simon Magus who was kept in 
sight until the day of his great attempt, 
f “ Grammaticus, rhetor, geometres, pictor, aliptes, 

Augur, schoenobates, medicus, magus ; omnia novit, 
Graeculus esuriens in coelum, jusseris, ibit. 

Ad summan non Maurus erat, neque Sarmata, nec Thrax, 
Qui sumpsit pennas, mediis sed natus Athenis.” 

In these lines Juvenal, (Sat. Ill, 76-90) a contemporary writer, 


Trepidation. 


131 

" Well, we shall see what will come of it/' said 
Pudens, as he prepared to start for the baths, the 
usual prelude to the Roman meals. 

The Faithful, in general, who had so often 
witnessed the diabolical feats of Simon, were not 
wholly without fear lest his experiment should 
succeed, and thus great damage accrue to the faith. 
Their trouble of mind was greatly increased when, 
in the office of Friday, they heard the order 
published in all their assemblies for fasting and 
prayer. In the oratory of the mansion of Pudens, 
the • Apostle Peter appeared unexpectedly and in 
person exhorted all to penance, especially on the 
Saturday which immediately preceded the opening 
of the Games.* But while he found his children 
obedient to this invitation, he met with an opposi- 
tion equally strong on another point. At the 
close of the sacred rites, while he was informing 
Pudens that he would avail himself of his hospitality 


seems to describe Simon Magus at the court of Nero, simply 
omitting his name and changing that of his country. We are 
the more inclined to adopt this explanation of the lines, because 
the poet continues for some verses further to brand the dis- 
graceful turpitude of Nero’s court. Besides, this poetical 
episode about Simon Magus corresponds exactly with the 
historical account. 

* An old tradition, quoted by St. Augustin, and already 
mentioned in the course of this legend. 


132 Simon Peter and Simon Magus. 

until after the Quinquennalia, he suddenly saw 
himself surrounded by the chief members of the 
Roman Church, all kneeling at his feet and 
beseeching him to withdraw from the city. The 
sisters especially pleaded with a tearful earnestness 
which would have softened a harder heart. The 
priests, together with the faithful laity, pressed 
round the Apostle with such expressions of heartfelt 
sorrow that he felt overcome. 

“ What, then, do you wish me to do, my dear 
children,” asked Peter. “ Would you have me fly 
in the presence of death ? But how can I thus deny 
what I have so often told you of the happiness of 
suffering for Jesus Christ? Such a fate is not a 
death, but a resurrection. Can I refuse to undergo 
the torments to which I have nerved so many of 
the brethren by my exhortations ? How can I fly 
when our Divine Master promised me a share in 
His passion?” But those children afflicted and 
trembling for their beloved Father, could not 
entertain these reasons, and in default of arguments 
they pressed him with their tears so that the hall 
resounded with disconsolate sobs and entreaties, 
while here and there a voice broken by sighs was 
heard : “ Will you, then, holy Father, in order not 
to withdraw for a few days, abandon us forever? 
Who will save us from so many snares if you are 


Trepidation . 


133 


taken from us ? Father, take pity on us, if you 
have no care for yourself.” A long hour was con- 
sumed amid such touching scenes as this. The 
next day brought a new series of assaults. On the 
night immediately preceding the Games, Peter felt 
that he was overcome ; overcome not by arguments, 
but by tears. So, appearing in the nightly meeting 
he announced that he would yield to the universal 
prayer of clergy and people. These words were 
followed by a lively outburst of gladness, of praises 
to God, and of spiritual exultation. Each one felt 
as if his tears and prayers had saved his father ; 
that his was the merit before God and the Church. 
The Apostle cut short their expressions of joy by 
beginning the celebration of the Holy Mysteries. 
After giving them the Divine Bread, he prayed 
awhile, then rising from his knees, he said : 
“ Brethren, I go for the present. May Jesus Christ 
our Lord preserve you in His holy grace, and may 
the Holy Spirit abide with you.” 

<f And with thy spirit,” replied the faithful with 
one voice. 

“ Fatter, I go with you,” cried several at once. 

“ No, brethren, I must go alone, that the place of 
my retreat may not be known. Persevere in prayer 
that God may confound the machinations of His 
enemies.” And he left the chamber. At the outer 


134 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 


door he found Pudens and the women of the house- 
hold on their knees. Pudentiana had gone in haste 
to bring the Apostolic Staff and now presented it to 
Peter. The Apostle gave to her and to all the 
hospitable family a most affectionate blessing, then 
setting his staff firmly to the ground, he passed out 
at a rapid gait.* 


* The words ascribed to St. Peter and to the faithful, on this 
occasion, we take from St. Ambrose, or from the author, 
whoever he be, of the work De Excidio Hieros. II, 2, who con- 
cludes thus: “Victus fletibus, Petrus cessit; promisit se urbe 
egressurum. Proxima nocte salutatis fratribus et celebrata 
oratione (the of the Greeks, the sacred liturgy, in other 
words Holy Mass), proficisci solus ccepit." 




CHAPTER VII. 

A FLIGHT AND A FALL. 

t T LAST the long-desired day had dawned which 
was to usher in the Neronian Games, and both 
d the Roman people and their master remem- 
bered the promise of Simon Icarus. Though the 
great feat was announced to take place at noon, yet 
as early as nine o’clock the Forum was already 
excessively crowded. Caesar had risen from his 
downy couch, and was now walking up and down 
under the portico of the imperial palace, without a 
toga, with a handkerchief loosely tied about his 
neck, ungirded and barefooted.* He was engaged 
in a familiar conversation with Simon, which he 
interrupted from time to time, to look out from the 
balconies on the Sacred Street and the Forum, and 
watch the constantly increasing crowds. In one of 


* Adeo pudendus, ut . . . . plerumque synthesinam indutus, 
ligato circa collum sudario prodierit in publicum, sine cinctu et 
liscalceatus. Suet. Nero, ch. 51. 


135 


136 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

these pauses, he turned to his companion and said, 
as he pointed toward the Capitol : “ Take care ; it 
is pretty high, you see.” 

“ I have measured it,” answered Simon, “ I shall 
make my leap even higher. Does your Majesty 
see that cloud which is floating high in the air, over 
your Colossus there ? That cloud awaits me. But 
remember, Caesar, whilst you still remain on earth, 
to punish my traducers, we shall meet again, when 
you least expect it. The heavens and the earth are 
my habitation.” 

So spoke the magician, expressing outwardly the 
most unlimited confidence while his heart was full 
of rage at the ill-dissembled mistrust of Nero. No 
less painful was the wound inflicted on his proud 
heart, by the daily-increasing renown in which he 
was leaving Peter. A hundred times he seriously 
deliberated with himself whether he should, before 
taking his flight from the Capitol, demand the 
Apostle’s blood from the Emperor : a hundred 
times he resolved to do it, and as often he checked 
the words upon his very lips. He was ashamed to 
show so much fear of a man of the people.* “ And 
besides,” he reasoned with himself, “ Peter is hidden, 
perhaps he is far from Rome; let us get safely 

* “ Torquebatur magus Apostoli gloria." Excid. Hieros. 
II, 2. 


A Flight and a Fall. 


137 


through the business of to-day, and then to crush 
him will be but child’s play.” 

Meanwhile the day had been advancing steadily 
in its course. The Forum was one mass of human 
beings ; and the crowd was momentarily growing 
larger. Besides the Sacred Street which was like a 
stream of humanity, the New Street, the Turarian, 
Jugarian, Tuscan and Mamertine lanes, as well as 
every other avenue of approach, poured in a real 
torrent. The galleries of the Basilicas and the 
terraces of the Capitoline temples were covered with 
people ; even the towers, the roofs and the very 
eaves of the houses as far down as the Forums 
of Caesar and of Augustus, were crowded with 
spectators who called loudly for Icarus. Simon, 
therefore, appeared with the Emperor, on one of the 
balconies which connected the Palatine with the 
Capitol, and ran along one side of the Julian 
Basilica ; from this point, in the sight of an 
immense multitude, with many pompous gestures 
and expressions he made a speech of farewell. 
His most devoted companions and disciples were 
waiting for him at ’the foot of the great staircase, 
where they received him with repeated bursts of 
applause which were reechoed by the crowd in the 
Forum. For a‘ moment, now, his presumption 
received a slight check when his eye rested upon 


138 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 


the Tarpeian Rock immediately before him; but 
shaking off the sudden chill which had seized upon 
his heart, he confirmed his impious rashness and 
renewed his self-immolation to the demon, by 
repeating the dark oaths that held him to his 
contract. 

He was now slowly ascending the slope of the 
Capitoline hill, along the Sacred Street* He was 
dressed in an ample philosopher’s cloak, as white as 
snow : he was crowned with laurel and surrounded 
by a numerous train of disciples and sacrificers. 
His step was haughty ; he paused from time to time 
before the crowd drawn up in dense masses on his 
way, to afford to all a fair opportunity of beholding 
him. He raised his brow as proudly as if its 
gloomy clouds had been a crown of majesty, and on 
recognizing amid the throng some Jews of his party, 
he paused to address them : “I go to the Father : 
be true to me and I will prepare you a seat at the 

* " Conscendit statuto die montem Capitolinum.” Excid. 
Hieros. ubi. sup. We find mention of the gallery which 
connected the Julian Palace with the Capitol, in Suet. Calig. 
ch. 22. It seems to have passed over the lateral nave of the 
Julian Basilica, and to have been the very place from which 
Caligula threw down money among the people, as may be seen 
in the same author, ch. 37. To complete the passage a bridge 
was also built, but was soon after destroyed ; in the time of 
Nero it was necessary to pass up the steps inside of the Basilica, 
to enter the Forum, and then to go up by the ordinary route. 


A Flight and a Fall . 


139 


foot of my throne, whence I shall henceforth pour 
down on my elect, both in heaven and on earth, 
my divine riches.” Or again at times, he spoke in 
more threatening tones : “ Woe ! Woe ! to the 

perverse Galileans ! I leave them my malediction !” 
To his most fanatical followers, he swore : “ Indeed 
I say to you that he who believes in me, shall not 
see old age nor taste of death ; in me is the source 
of eternal life.” To all he said with an air and tone 
of consummate self-conceit : “ Remember that you 
have seen the word of God,” and here he placed his 
hand upon his breast ; “I am the Beautiful, the 
Paraclete, the Omnipotent, the Living Bread, the 
All of God.” 

At these words the multitude, always ready to 
follow blindly every plausible impostor, threw them- 
selves at his feet, and kissed the hem of his 
garment.* Thus blaspheming his Creator and 
Saviour, renouncing both Judaism and Paganism, 
an apostate and heresiarch, emulating Lucifer, the 
lost wretch went forth. He entered the Capitol by 

* The singular promises and blasphemous threats of Simon, as 
well as the bestowal of a laurel crown and the popular applause 
may be found mentioned in the Constit. Apost. YI, 9 ; Hist. 
Excid. Hieros. ubi sup.; St. Jijstin, I Apol. Christ, ch 26; 
St. Jerome, In Matt. XXIV, 5 ; St. Maximus of Turin, Homil. 
LX XII, Ed. Migne; Isidor, Hispal. Chronica, Ed. Migne, t. 
III. 


140 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 


the Saturnian gate, passed the arches of Scipio and 
of Nero, and at length appeared on the porch of 
the temple of Capitoline Jove. Here, amid the 
reverent silence of the throngs of people who were 
looking upon him from all sides, he sacrificed a 
white bull to Jupiter.* Then, having dismissed all 
those who had attended him, except a few who were 
initiated in his diabolical rites, he withdrew into the 
grove of the Asylum and began his impious incan- 
tations.f 

The sun was now high in the heavens and shone 
brightly near the zenith. But suddenly a dark 
cloud was seen to rise from the summit of the hill, 
giving forth quick and repeated flashes of baleful 
light. In the midst of this unnatural cloud a 
flaming chariot drawn by winged and fiery steeds 
was seen advancing towards the edge of the Tar- 
peian Rock. In the chariot Simon stood with an 
air of proud triumph, his brow surrounded by a 

* That such a sacrifice was offered by Simon, appears from 
the Epitome of the Acts of St. Peter, ch. 54, and in the works 
of St Clement, Ed. Migne, t. II. 

f “ Collegit sese, atque omnem excitans suorum carminum 
potentiam,” etc. Excid. Hieros. ubi sup. The grove of the 
Asylum consisted of but a few trees, and occupied the space now 
known as the Capitol square ; the ascent to the Capitolian Jove 
must have'nearlv coincided with that which leads up from that- 
square to the Ara-coeli ; at the foot of the ascent rose the arch 
of Nero. 


A Flight and a Fall. 141 

— *7 J — 

luminous halo ; his left hand held the reins while 
with his right he pointed up to heaven. From 
under his arms sprang two great wings, glittering 
with the brilliancy of many jewels and with all the 
colors of the rainbow. In the Forum every tongue 
was mute with a feeling of sacred awe, and few 
were even sufficiently free from the solemn spell to 
raise a finger in order to point out to their neigh- 
bors the wonderful sight. Nero himself stood on 
the most prominent balcony of the Palatine, shading 
his eyes with one hand and with the other pointing 
in the direction of the new divinity, upon whom he 
was gazing with unmoving eyes. Icarus directed 
his course to the highest point of the rock; here 
he was wrapped in a cloud from which his fiery 
chariot soon again emerged and rose up toward the 
highest regions of the air. His steeds seemed to 
tread the liquid ether at a plunging gallop, and to 
move at ease as though in a familiar element. Now 
an immense shout burst forth from the assembled 
multitude wild with excitement at the sight of such 
a prodigy ; the air trembled with the frantic 
applause which seemed to shake the very stars. 
Many prostrated themselves upon the earth, in 
adoration of the supposed deity, and rising again, 
applied the extremity of their hands to their lips, 
then threw them up into the air, which was the 


142 Simon Peter and Simon Magus. 


usual mode of expressing the homage of adoration ; 
mothers lifted up their babes on high as if to secure 
for them the last influence of the departing divinity ; 
the followers of the magician were almost distracted 
with joy at the apparent triumph of their master. 

Amid all this excitement of minds, of voices and 
gestures, no one had observed a venerable old man, 
whose countenance bore an expression of severe 
and terrible majesty, and who was kneeling on a 
large stone opposite the imperial palace. His hands 
were clasped around a travelling staff ; he looked 
more like a statue than like a living man, save that 
now and then his eyes were raised up to heaven and 
his lips moved in fervent prayer. Meanwhile, 
Simon was soaring upward, and had just paused, as 
if balanced in mid-air, over the head of Nero. The 
old man rose up, stretched forth his hands in prayer 
— in an instant the scene was changed ! The flames 
which surrounded the wonderful prodigy dis- 
appeared, a crash was heard like that of a thunder- 
bolt, and the thousands of eyes which were gazing 
intently upward saw the chariot and the chargers 
suddenly vanish in smoke, while the rider hurled 
headlong down, struck upon a projecting corner of 
Nero’s portico from which he rolled upon the pave- 
ment at the feet of the old man, where he lay 
mangled and bleeding, and but poorly covered by 


143 


A Flight and a Fall . 

the torn and tattered shreds of his proud philoso- 
phic mantle.* 

* It would be a waste of time to enter upon a discussion of 
the possibility of Simon’s flight* since it is related and asserted 
in greater or less detail by many ancient writers. It is more to 
our purpose to state that three contemporary Pagan writers and 
a fourth, who wrote not long after, seem to allude to it openly. 
They are Suetonius, Nero, 13, who speaks of a certain Icarus 
who, in an attempt to fly, fell to the earth and sprinkled Nero 
with his blood; Juvenal, Sat. Ill,* 74, seq., who mentioned 
some juggler equally ready at rope-walking, augury, magic, in 
a word : “ in ccelum ibit .... sumpsit pennas Dio Chry- 
sost, Orat. 21, who speaks of Nero’s atrocious order compelling 
some unlucky victim to fly j Lucian, Philopseud. 13-14, with 
his Hyperboreus to whom he ascribes the very wonders related 
of Simon Magus by the holy Fathers, including even the 
sorceries performed by means of the image of a child and the 
flight which is related by one of the interlocutors in a dialogue. 
Now for the circumstances of the occurrences which we have 
introduced. The hour was at high noon. Const. Apost. VI, 9; 
Isid. Hispal. ubi sup. The place was the immediate neighbor- 
hood of the Capitol and the Tarpeian Rock. Excid. Hieros. 
ubi sup. The grounds for adding the flames, the chariot, the 
demons bearing it up, the wings of Simon, the sudden fall after 
the prayer of Peter, and the presence of Nero, may be found in 
the Apostolic Constitutions , ubi sup., and in many other places 
in the Clementine books. Arnobius, Contra Gentes, II, 12, 
mentions the fact as one of public notoriety, and as beyond 
denial by the heathens. Among other authorities, too, we will 
only mention: St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catech. VI, 15; St. 
Maximus of Turin, ubi sup. ; the works of Tertullian, Ed. 
Migne, t. II, p. 1059; Sulpicius Severus, St. Sacro II, 28; St. 
Epiphanius, Heresies, XXI, 5; St. Philastrius, Heresies, 29; 
Theodoret, Beret, fav. I, 1 ; St. Isidore Pelusium, Epist. I, 13, 
Ed. Migne; Dracontius, a poet of the IVth century, Carm sup. 
Deum, ill, 217-242, etc., etc. 


144 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

“ He is dead !” — “ No ; he still moves !” — 
“ Alive ?” — “ Dead ?” — were the exclamations heard 
from the crowd as they gathered round the bleeding 
body, and as they passed from mouth to mouth 
they were accompanied with various expressions of 
feeling. Some pitied him, others expressed their 
joy at the result, while some even made his mis- 
fortune the subject of jokes and ridicule. The 
latter sentiment seemed to prevail at last, and the 
story of Icarus, coupled with that of Apsetus,* was 
on every tongue. Nero, without further ceremony, 
without vouchsafing even a look at the helpless 
divinity, turned coldly away and called for a change 
of garments, for he had been sprinkled profusely 
with the blood from Simon’s body when it struck 
upon the cornice near him. The multitude quickly 
dispersed by different routes, mortified and dis- 
abused ; and as the various groups passed along the 
streets their conversation was carried on in a tone 
which showed that they were heartily ashamed of 
their credulity. 

Some, however, who had seen the old man kneel- 
ing in prayer, his sudden rising and the speedy fall 
of Icarus at his feet, as soon as they had recovered 

* Apsetus was a Lybian who would also have passed for a 
god. His story is mentioned in conjunction with that of Simon 
Magus in the Philosophumena, VI. ch. I, 18. 


A Flight and a Fall . 145 

a little from their first stupor, began to whisper to 
one another : 

“ But what was that old man doing there, so re- 
collected ?” 

“ Did you see how he suddenly sprang up, like a 
wild beast ?” 

" I wonder if he is not some enemy of Icarus ? a 
sorcerer perhaps ?” 

“ If physiognomy goes for anything, he certainly is.” 

“ Let us return and look into the matter.” 

They hastened back, searched for the old man, 
examined the spot where they had seen him ; but 
he had disappeared in the crowd. 

“ Here is the stone,” cried one, “ on which he was 
kneeling. I was here quite close to him. See, 
here is the blood of Icarus !” 

“ Look at this hole !” exclaimed another, “ see, 
here are prints of knees in the rock !” 

One of the party having fitted his own knees into 
the cavities, exclaimed : “ Exactly ! Two knees 
imprinted in the stone ! But, by Hercules ! it is a 
flag-stone like all the others on the street ; yet all 
are even except this one !” 

“A sorcerer! down with the magician!” they 
cried.* 


The precise spot on which St. Peter was seen fixis genibus, 

10 


146 Simon Peter and Simon Magus. 


But Peter (for the old man was none other,) was 
already far away. He had left the house of Pudens 
before daybreak, and as he moved at a rapid pace 
towards the Porta Capena and along the Appian 
Road he crossed the Almon* at dawn. So 
absorbed was he in contemplation, that he seemed 
unconscious of all around him. And yet he was 
carefully searching for a suitable place in which to 
take shelter during his temporary self-exile. At 

as it is related by St. Maximus of Turin, ubi sup., and with 
outstretched hands according to the Recogmt., as already 
quoted, was not a theatre, in our sense of the term. The word 
theatre was used by those writers to signify any place intended 
for public displays. From St. Epiphanius, loc. tit., we learn 
that it was in the middle of the city, (h y :'<r» t^» 0 P 'mya.ua 

7roKu.) We learn, too, from the Roman tradition, that it was 
precisely the spot now occupied by Santa Maria Nuova, or as it 
is more commonly known, Santa Francesca Romana, a locality 
exactly opposite the principal entrance to the Palatine. Now 
although this space opened on the Sacred Street and not on the 
Forum, it may easily be believed that Nero from one of these 
terraces watched the flight of Simon who had started from an 
elevated part of the Capitol. That this tradition is very ancient 
is proved by the fact that Pope St. Paul I, built a chuich on 
this spot, “ in quo loco usque hactenus (before the year 767, as 
also at the present time,) eorum genus pro testimonio in pos- 
tremo venturae generationis in quodam fortissimo silice licet 
esse noscuntur designata.” Anast. Bibl. Vitas Rom. Pont., S. 
Paulus. Even before the time of Anastasius, the venerated 
stone is mentioned by S. Gregory of Tours, Mirac. I, 28 ; and 
this saint died in 595. 

* This is a small stream emptying into the Tiber and now 
known as the Acquetaccio. 


A Flight and a Fall . 147 

one moment he felt an inclination to go among the 
Hernici, at another he turned towards Latium, at 
times he felt even a great desire to be among the 
flourishing Christian communities of Campania, or 
again his heart rested among his children in Naples 
and Pozzuoli. Suddenly he felt himself over- 
whelmed with a sense of the Divine Presence, and 
raising his eyes he saw his Divine Master coming 
toward him at a quick pace, like a traveller eager 
to reach the object of his journey. His counte- 
nance bore that expression of familiar love which 
shone from it when He conversed with His own 
during his earthly career. 

“ Lord !” exclaimed Peter, whose heart was full 
of happiness at the sight of Jesus ; “ whither art 
thou going ?” And he fell prostrate at the feet of 
the Lord. 

And Jesus answered : “ I am going to Rome to 
be crucified again,” and with these words He dis- 
appeared. These words shed a ray of heavenly 
light into the soul of Peter ; he knew, then, that his 
condescension in leaving Rome was not acceptable 
in heaven. After having prayed long and fervently, 
and watered with his tears the ground marked by 
the Saviour’s footsteps, he turned back towards 
Rome and reentered the city, more than ever eager 


1 48 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

for the promised palm of martrydom.* He was 
going back to die ; and he went back with a free 
and steady step, never stopping on the way until he 
found himself once more in the midst of the Forum. 
There, with a firm trust in the words of his Master, 
he awaited the enemy already so often discomfited, 
to give him a last defeat. 

Many and various were the rumors rife in the 
Roman Church on that Sunday. The fatal fall of 
Simon Magus was currently attributed to the joint 
prayers of Peter and Paul ; but the difficulty was to 
conciliate the conflicting reports of individuals. 
Some asserted positively that they had seen the 
Apostle on the Appian Road, on his way to 
Naples ; others had met him on the Appian Road 
hastening toward Rome. A confused and un- 
certain rumor was spread among the Jews, and flew 
rapidly from mouth to mouth, that Peter had been 
in the Sacred Street opposite to Caesar ; the disciples 


* This vision is mentioned by the author of the Excid. Hie- 
rosol.ubi sup., by St. Ambrose, Serm. Contr. Auxentium, ch. 3, 
Ed. cit.; and by the tradition of the Roman Church which, 
even to our own time, venerates the sacred spot and the Church 
built there under the title of Domine quo vadis, or Santa Maria 
delle Piante. In fact the footprints of the Saviour have re- 
mained impressed in the stone, venerated in the earliest days of 
the Church, and now preserved, not far off, in the Basilica of St. 
Sebastian. 


A Flight and a Fall . 


149 


of Simon said that they had seen him disappear in 
the crowd just as they were picking up their fallen 
master. In fine, one account was that Peter had 
been seized by order of Nero and cast into the 
Mamertine prison together with Paul. No one 
knew anything certainly. Peter did not appear, nor 
did he send any news about himself. Nero, already 
forgetful of his fiiend Simon, was hastily preparing 
to leave for Achaia. 




CHAPTER VIII. 

THE LAST WORDS OF PETER IN THE MAMERTINE PRISON. 

J T THE foot of the Capitoline hill, just where the 
Forum opens on the Mamertine road, stood a 
' large and very plain edifice built of square 
blocks of stone and bearing on the fa£ade, the 
inscription: Caius. Vibius. Son of C. Rufinus, M. 
Cocceius. Nerva. Consuls. By a Decree of the 
Senate ;* and each one who read mentally supplied 
the words : Restored this Prison. No window 
varied the stern monotony of that long and smooth 
wall, which seemed to frown with its gloomy brow 
upon all evil-doers and to warn by its very presence, 
the Forum and the Comitium. Only a narrow 
door, surmounted by a small iron grating, relieved 

* The wall is still standing and the inscription is legible : C. 
Vibius, C. F. Rufinus, M. Cocceius. Nerva. Coss. Ex. SC. 
Whence we gather that the Tullian or Mamertine Prison was 
renewed or enlarged in the seventh year of the reign of 
Augustus. 

150 


Last Words. 


151 

the darkness of the den walled in behind that grim 
and forbidding front. Along its left wall ran the 
steps of the Gemoniae; a deep vaulted cavern 
running far into the live rock of the Capitoline hill, 
whence its walls and ceiling bore the appearance of 
unusual hardness ; in the pavement was an opening 
which led down to the Robur or Tullian Prison. This 
was a deeper sepulchre dug down into the bowels 
of the earth, girded with sharp projecting stones, 
with no other entrance for air or light than a round 
aperture in the vault. 

In the Tullian Prison had perished Jugurtha and 
the accomplices of Catiline, and lately, in the days 
of Tiberius, Sejanus with other criminals. Under 
Nero, it witnessed the long sufferings of his innocent 
victims and of the Saints of Jesus Christ. Could 
one have entered with a torch into this hidden mine, 
he might have perceived two venerable old men 
seated upon the pavement leaning against a stone 
column to which their chains were secured. They 
were engaged in a calm conversation about their 
approaching punishment and were magnifying 
joyously the glory of the Redeemer. Both were 
grey with years, both thin and wasted ; but one was 
tall in stature, with a square and bony face, and 
sharply defined features ; his beard was short and 
crisp, and his whole countenance bore the impress 


152 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 


of austere majesty. The other was of less than 
medium height, slightly bent, with a fair complexion 
and a face inclining in outline to the oval, with a 
prominent aquiline nose, while from his chin and 
cheeks fell a full and majestic beard ; his features 
were sharp, yet of noSle cast, his brow expansive, 
bald and free from wrinkles, and from under his 
bushy eyebrows shone two clear, bright eyes spark- 
ling with a subdued fire. The former was Peter, 
the latter Paul.* 

Paul had almost completed a year of imprison- 

*That such was the personal appearance of the two holy 
Apostles seems evident from the ancient monuments, writings 
and designs; and their perfect agreement seems to afford a 
strong argument in favor of their veracity. Much has been 
written on this subject; we will content ourselves with referring 
all those who may still entertain any doubts on the subject, to 
the dissertation of the illustrious antiquary, J. B. De Rossi, 
lately published in the Omaggio Cattolico ai Principi degli 
Apostolio — Rome, Sinimberghi, 1867, 80., p. 233. We will 
only add that there still exists, as is well known, the impress of 
a human countenance on the wall of the Mamertine Prison, at 
the very spot where now is the descent into the Tullian dungeon. 
Tradition says that this is the profile of St. Peter which was 
miraculously stamped on the rock when the Apostle was on 
one occasion thrown against it by a brutal jailor. Now such 
an impression strongly supports the testimony of the other 
monuments, but it does not agree with a writer who describes 
his nose as large and turned up, whereas here it is straight and 
sharp, rather than otherwise, at least so it seemed to us, and 
we certainly examined the rock with the most minute attention 
and care. 


Last Words . 


153 


ment ; Peter had been nine months in captivity ; and 
they had changed that murky dungeon into a bright 
temple of the wonders of God. A splendid proof of 
the power of God, which had come down into that 
gloomy abode together with the Apostles, was 
afforded by a band of soldiers, the chief of whom 
were Processus and Martinianus. These same men 
had bound Peter in chains on the very day Simon 
Magus met with his fatal fall ; for Nero had ordered 
the arrest of Peter as the alleged author of the 
mishap.* They had very little trouble in finding 

* It is almost impossible to get at the exact chronology of 
the last events in Peter’s life. The Acta SS. Erocessi et 
Martiniani , relate that the flight of the Apostle was favored by 
those to whose keeping he had been entrusted. On the other 
hand, the author of the Hist. Excid. Hierosol. II, 2, says that 
the Saint withdrew from Eome after the fall of the magician, 
and St. Ambrose, Serin. Contr. Auxent. ch. 13, seems to agree 
with him in this view: either account may be true. All the 
above authors, however, with many others, agree in stating 
that after the affair of Simon Magus, Peter was imprisoned. 
We must remain satisfied with a probable chronology since we 
have no certain one. As for Nero's knowing the cause of his 
favorite’s fall, there is nothing in the statement which is not 
very probable, if we consider the reputation Peter had already 
gained and his well known contests with Simon Magus. Besides, 
it is positively affirmed by the above eminent writers, as also 
by St. Maximus, of Turin, Horn. LXXII, Ed. Migne and by 
Arnobius, Adv. Gent. II, 12, who affirms that the fact was of 
public notoriety and was known moreover by the whole race of 
the Gentiles: “Viderant enim currum Simonis, et quadrigas 
igneas Petri ore difflatas, et nominato Christo evanuisse from 


154 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

him, for the Apostle, warned by divine inspiration 
of the cross which God had prepared for him, not 
only showed himself freely among the faithful but 
even appeared openly before his persecutors. But 
they soon found themselves the captives of their 
own prisoner. They first became his admirers, then 
his disciples, finally his intimate companions ; and 
when grace had fully done its work in their souls, 
they fell at his feet and begged to be admitted to 
the fountain of regenerating waters. To which 
request Peter consented. 

“ Well,” exclaimed the neophytes, “ why delay 
longer? We will go for water.” 

“ It is not necessary,” replied the Apostle, if God 
deems you worthy of His baptism, He will provide 
for the sacrament.” 

With these words he bent forward to the ground 
and with his thumb traced the sign of the cross 
upon the hard rock. Suddenly the stone sinking 
under the sacred sign, formed a deep and ample 
basin, while from under the rock the stream of living 
water came gushing up, and pouring out its crystal 
waves, filled the basin to the very brim, but without 
overflowing.f 

which fact he adduces an argument to prove their blindness 
inexcusable. 

f For more than eighteen centuries this fountain continues to 


Last Words . 


155 


At this wonderful sight the astonished legionaries 
uttered a loud cry and dragged their companions to 
the spot to witness the prodigy ; and while the 
water came up from the ground the grace of God 
was poured down on them from above ; in a word, 
the Tullian dungeon became one of the principal 
Churches of Rome, founded in the very bowels of 
the Capitolian hill, as if in defiance of the demon 
adored on its summit. Peter and Paul were the 
priests of the hidden temple, and its preachers too ; 
Nero’s legionaries were its faithful flock. Thus 
were the mysterious workings of divine mercy 
displayed, in that dismal receptacle of human 
wickedness. 

From the day on which Peter gathered around 
him such a harvest of friends of God, the solitude 
of the place was at an end, and it was granted to 
the two Apostles to give a hearing to the neophytes 
eager for the divine word and for their holy coun- 
sels. Very often, too, Peter and Paul saw at their 
feet, Linus, already named the successor to the 
Vicar of Christ, Luke, Clement, Cornelius Pudens, 


fill its little basin, and every one knows that though thousands 
and thousands of vials and other vessels have been filled from 
it (as happens annually at the great festivals of St. Peter and 
Paul), it never diminishes, just as it never runs over when it is 
left untouched. 


156 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 


and others of the early Saints of Rome. They 
came to seek consolation, to have their doubts dis- 
pelled by a ray of the apostolic light now hidden 
but not extinguished. In the depth of the night 
they were brought in by the attendants, more faith- 
ful to the commandments of God than to the tyran- 
nical orders of Caesar; they descended into the 
depths of this prison by a little ladder furnished by 
the keepers, who silently followed them, to have a 
part in the sacred banquet. 

It was a sight which must have made the angels 
rejoice to see now ten, now more of the new 
brethren ranging themselves along the dark walls, 
while dimly visible in the flickering light of a hang- 
ing lantern, Peter and Paul stood up at the foot of 
the pillar, extending their manacled hands over the 
new converts to call down from the throne of the 
august Trinity the living flames of the Holy Spirit ; 
or oftener standing at the wooden trestle-work altar, 
furnished by the rough legionaries, offering up the 
divine mysteries and distributing the divine bread 
among the faithful present.* Sometimes amid the 
silence of noon-day, f some pious matron, in the 
dress of a servant-maid, knelt upon the extreme 

* Acta SS. Processi et Martiniani . — Apud Surium, 2d Julii. 

fit may be necessary here to call attention to the use of the 
Siesta (the hora sexta of the Latin) so prevalent in Rome, 


Last Words. 


157 


edge of the aperture in the ceiling, bringing some 
restoratives and delicacies to relieve the pains of 
imprisonment and of the stocks, and took back 
with her, in return, some fatherly admonition or 
some relief from sickness with the apostolic bless- 
ing. O, venerable Claudia ! generous Lucina ! Pris- 
cilla so charitable to the departed ! Petronilla, 
Praxedes and Pudentiana, tender doves of Jesus 
Christ! O, all ye sisters of the ancient Roman 
Church, by how many chaste sighs did you conse- 
crate that cruel dungeon ! With what bitter tears 
did you water the entrance of that gloomy grave 
which kept hidden from your sight your teachers 
and your fathers ! How often, while prostrate at 
that dark and narrow entrance have you strained 
your eyes to behold the loved features of Peter and 
Paul, who drew as near to the light as the length of 
their chains would allow, and consoled you with 
words of heavenly sweetness ! And then the weep- 
ing jailers, now also children of Peter, joined their 
tears and sobs with those of the afflicted matrons ; 
they lowered themselves into the pit to kiss the 


Naples, and generally in warm climates, and which was held 
sacred even in the early ages, as may be gathered from the 
classic authors. Indeed the general suspension of all business 
and the perfect desertion of the streets made it more like an 
hour of the night. 


158 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

fetters and the wounds of the Apostles in the name 
of the weeping visitors, and returned with some of 
the water which had been so miraculously pro- 
duced.* How often those devoted sons urged upon 
the holy prisoners their request : 

“ Fathers, let us break these fetters.” 

“ No,” answered the Saints, “ such is not God’s 
will 

From this secret council of the Mamertine went 
forth the apostolic oracles, and the soldiers of 
Caesar became their messengers. Thence Paul 
maintained firm in their virtue the victims dragged 
to the imperial palace to satisfy the brutal passion 
of Nero.| Thence Peter gave his blessings to 
numerous bands of neophytes on their way to mar- 
tyrdom and finally strengthened for the supreme 
contest his former jailers, now his fellow-prisoners 
and the sharers of his martyrdom. But before this 
last extremity had been reached, the tumult of 
profane Rome never found its way to them, they 
only heard the news from without when it bore on 
the interests of the Church. 

It was in the early summer ; Nero was running 

* Cf. Acta SS. Processi et Marliniani. 

t Act. SS. Proces. et Martin, ubi sup. 

J An ancient and authentic tradition. Yid. Baronius, ann 
68, No. 25. 


Last Words . 


159 


all the race-courses of Greece, always victor, always 
applauded, always triumphant. Meanwhile Rome 
began to hear the suppressed murmuring of secret 
but extensive conspiracies. Indeed the seeds of 
rebellion had been prodigally sown by the imperial 
officers left to rule the city. Aelius and Polycletus, 
who held the reins of power in the name of Nero, 
partly through a naturally perverse disposition, 
partly to supply the extravagant outlays of their 
master, daily multiplied executions, confiscations, 
and all manner of intolerable outrages. When 
they perceived that their authority was beginning to 
stagger and that the reins were falling from their 
hands, they besought Nero to return at once and to 
look the affairs of the Empire in the face. At last 
Nero seemed to feel once more that he was 
Emperor; he now threw aside the crowns of the 
Grecian games rather than lose the imperial diadem, 
and ordered the hundred galleys which were to 
restore him to the loved shores of Italy. The news 
was received at Rome with a cry of terror. 

Amid the general trepidation, Demetrius, the 
Cynic, made almost daily visits to the mansion of 
Cornelius Pudens, who treated him with every mark 
of most flattering kindness, without, however, 
betraying the cruel anguish rending his heart. 
Thus he managed to gather the news of the day 


i6o Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 


and to keep the holy Apostles informed of it in 
their captivity. 

“ I have been looking for you with some im- 
patience,” said Pudens to the philosopher, one day ; 
“ without your presence the dining-hall seems 
empty, nothing seems savory, nothing pleases me.” 

“ Too much honor,” replied Demetrius, “ for a 
poor Cynic’s wallet ! But to-day I deserve more 
and greater.” 

“ Is there any news ?” 

“ News !” answered the Cynic, prolonging his 
lips into a pout and snapping his fingers violently ; 
“give me the run of your table until the next 
consulate, and even then the reward will not bear 
any proportion to the value of my information.” 

“ Come, out with it ! What is this great news ?” 

“ Caesar,” replied Demetrius, measuring his 
syllables, “ Caesar is perhaps food for fishes at this 
very moment.” 

“ Are you in earnest now ?” 

“ I would that I were as sure of the fact as I am 
that it is certainly probable.” 

“ How do you know it ?” 

“ From every point about the Mediterranean Sea 
we hear that such foul portents were never seen 
before. The beach is covered with bruised sea- 
weeds, here and there planks, broken masts, 


Last Words. 


161 


shattered rudders, cordage, and ship furniture, are 
cast up by the waves. If our good friend had 
really set out, then it is certainly all over with him ; 
for by this time he is safely settled in Neptune’s 
domain.” 

“ But have Aelius and Polycletus no tidings of 
him ?” 

“ They must certainly have heard something ; 
but they play ignorant.” 

“ I heard that he had most certainly started 
already; we saw it in the daily journal.”* 

“The desirable thing is that he should have 
gotten out into the high seas in time to fall in with 
the storm. I see to-day in the journal that our 
most illustrious masters are loudly singing their 
hymns of praise ; that the sea was as smooth as oil, 
that the gods guided the prow, that the Tritons 
guarded the helm, the Nereids caressed the sides, 
carried on their dances amid the seats of the rowers, 
and even stroked affectionately the divine counte- 
nance of Augustus. All this is anti-bilious to me, 
for I have learned to take the sayings of those good 
gentlemen by contraries.” 

“ Then you think the news good and reliable ?” 

“ I cannot yet give it full and unwavering belief, 
by reason of that little scene in the senate.” 

* The Acta Diurna already described in a previous number. 

11 


1 62 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

“ What little scene do you mean ?” 

“What! You a senator, and ask this of me? 
Must I pull it out of my poor little wallet to put it 
into your laticlave ?” 

“ You know that I am not always in the senate; 
I am still something of an invalid.” 

“ At any rate, you know that there have been 
many dangers mentioned which might threaten the 
life of the travelling divinity.” 

“ So I have heard ” 

“ You must also have heard that at the mention 
of these things the senators sprang up from their 
curule chairs like mad-men, and that the hall 
resounded with such cries, as : “ My blood curdles 
at the very thought !” “ I do not wish to live 

longer, if Caesar is to be subjected to any perils 1” 
“ I am lost, ruined, undone, if this be so !” “ Woe 

to the Republic, if Caesar meets a human fate !” In 
a word they vied with one another in devoting 
themselves to the worst of fates. Therefore, I say, 
they considered the tidings false and the danger 
only imaginary. 

“ What a very fox are you, my Cynic.” 

“ How ? It does not require much wit to know 
that if they had thought the account probable they 
would at once have ordered to the stake Aelius, 
Polycletus, and those other fine fellows whose feet 


Last Words . 


163 


they now slavishly kiss : nay, I can almost believe 
that they would have eaten them alive in the very 
Basilica. The fact is that the mere mention of such 
a thing as a possible shipwreck, makes me fear that 
my lord may already have actually landed. Nobody 
can take it out of my head that this was a mere 
shift to distinguish the doubtful adherents from the 
reliable sycophants.”* 

“ How can you claim your reward from me for 
such news as this ?” 

“ How ! Why the mere hope that he may very 
soon be ranked among the gods is not to be 
despised. Certainly there is the pro and con, but it 
is always a consolation to my piety.” 

On another occasion, the Cynic entered the 
atrium of the senator, his face flushed, an expression 
of disgust on all his features, and blowing like a 
tempest. As soon as he caught sight of his patron 


* " It was hoped that in this storm (£«/*wvoc) he {Nero) might 
have perished. But the hope was deceived, for he escaped; 
and the expression of the desire or hope of such a fate was for 
many the occasion of destruction.” Dio Cassius, Histor. Rom. 
XLIII, 19. From which passage some writers seem to infer 
that Nero’s voyage to Italy was made in the winter; but for 
this there is no foundation as the word used by Dio, is 

equal to the Latin hiems which means a storm, as often as is 
does winter . 


164 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 


he broke out without preface : “ Bad luck to all the 
gods and goddesses of the sea ! They never do one 
a single good turn ! Do you know what ? Not a bit 
of shipwreck ; he has landed at Brundisium, and 
they say that he is on his way to Naples. It is plain 
that even the meanest fishes would have nothing to 
do with his carcass.” 

“ Speak lower !” 

“Yes, yes; to the shades with these dainty 
fishes ! They had the morsel in their mouths, and 
they were fools enough to spit it out. May Proteus 
fry them for it !” 

“ Keep your temper, my Cerberus. The best 
plan would be for you to go yourself to meet him, 
and with your graceful manners and demonstrations 
of joyful greeting — ” 

Demetrius interrupted him with a grunt of 
disgust: “I know what demonstrations I would 
show him ! But there is no need of my going to 
meet him, he is already on his way to meet me. At 
Antium, at Albanum, divine honors await him; 
triumphal arches, altars at every point of the 
journey, victims, showers of roses, music, incense 
— all is prepared. The people talk of nothing but 
sacrifices, vows, and games, to be celebrated in 
thanksgiving to the gods. The shops of the saffron 


Last Words . 165 

dealers have been sacked to gild the very 
streets.”* 

“ Do you consider that extravagant ?” 

“ No, indeed, I should be willing to gild the 
ground with refined gold for him, if it would but 
open under his feet.” 

“ Why, what a zeal for getting him out of the 
way ! But might not the next one be worse ?” 

“ I don’t believe it.” 

“But see, you still live; and though you are 
every day uttering the most furious invectives 
against him, who touches a hair of your head ?” 

“ That is because I croak in the ditch, like the 
frogs, and he does not notice me; but should I 
happen to croak a little too distinctly, I know who 
is listening to me.” 

“ At any rate you are wrong. If you call down 
destruction on his head in this style, what is to 
become of those who are in prison with the axe 
already raised over their necks ?” 

“For the present they may breathe freely; the 
axe is not raised in the Mamertine, be sure of that. 
He has no time to think of that now ; his head is 
full enough of the rumors from Greece ; at most he 
will twist the necks of a pair of fat capons, by way 
of greasing his wheels.”f 


* Suet. Nero, n. 25. f Dio Cassius, Hist. Horn. LXIII, 18. 


1 66 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 


“ You mean a couple of Senators, eh?” 

“Who knows ? Aelius does not look only to the 
feathers, he knows what is underneath ; his eye is 
on those consulars who have fattened on the pro- 
vinces.” 

“ Come,” said Pudens, breaking off the conversa- 
tion, “ let us turn to some more cheerful topic.” 

The hour which Nero had chosen for his tri- 
umphal entry into Rome, was the one selected by 
Pudens for conferring with Peter and Paul. It was 
a singularly favorable moment and one least open to 
detection; for all Rome was running headlong to 
welcome its beloved Augustus, and few troubled 
themselves about the prisons or about those who 
were left to perish in them. The immense pro- 
cession halted shortly after crossing the Almon, for 
the purpose of regulating the order of the march. 
Meanwhile detachments had been sent forward to 
break down the Porta Capena, while others, with 
battering-rams destroyed one pier of the Circus 
Maximus, to admit him like an Iselasticus, since he 
had carried off the honors in the Olympic, the 
Pythic, the Isthmian and Nemean games, with 
hundreds of other less valuable prizes.* 


* Suet, ubi sup. Dio, n. 20. The name Iselasticus was given 
to those games, which gained to the victor the honor of entering 
the city through a breach in the walls, on a triumphal chariot, 


Last Words . 


167 


The emperor was preceded by a thousand Au- 
gustans, licentious and arrogant youths, the usual 
escort of Nero, whose office it seemed to be to 
applaud him at every point.* * They bore upon 
rich tablets at least eighteen hundred crowns, won, 
as they asserted, by Augustus in the contests at the 
games of all Greece. Before each crown was 
carried an inscription, borne aloft on a spear, de- 
scribing the nature of the victory : “ Nero, first 
among the Romans, crowned for skill at the cestus 
— in leaping — in hurling the javelin — in boxing — in 
wrestling — in the discus — in the pancratium — in the 
race — in satirical composition — in tragedy — in elo- 
quence — in singing — on the cithara — on the flute — 
in dancing — in a word there was not a Grecian 
crown that he had not won, even including the prize 
for pitching out of his chariot in the midst of an 
Olympic contest and rolling in the dust like a piece 
of dough that is rolled in flour. Notwithstanding 
this, the crown for incomparable skill in the Olympic 
games did not fail him, and Nero wore it upon his 
brow, a crown of the greenest olive, while his right 
hand grasped the pythic laurel. He paraded thus 
in a cloak of cloth of gold, over which was thrown 

bearing a crown and a palm branch, with the perpetual right 
of living at the public expense. 

* Tac. Ann, XIV, 15. 


1 68 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

a light purple mantle spangled with stars ; and he 
rode in the same chariot in which the first Augustus 
was wont to be borne along in triumph.* 

Along the road he was continually passing under 
triumphal arches bearing pompous and exaggerated 
inscriptions, while at various points between, altars 
were erected upon which were smoking the victims 
offered to his divinity. On the way trod by a god 
it was not enough to strew the fragrant herbs usual 
in mortal triumphs; it was little to cover it with 
leaves of roses even. Troops of boys and girls of 
illustrious descent went before, throwing down hand- 
fuls of saffron-dust, so that the ground was gilded 
by it. The houses from the Porta Capena to the 
Velabrum and the Forum were decorated with 
festoons and garlands of flowers. Rich incense 
burned before every door, while from the balconies 
a perfect shower of confits and flowers was poured 
down upon the “ soldiers of the triumph,” as Nero 
called the Augustans. Amid this shower, a hun- 
dred little winged divinities floated in mid-air, with 
purple streamers flying from their feet.f 

The crowd was literally packed in the streets ; 
the Roman knights and senators seemed even more 
enthusiastic than the people, and shouted like mad- 


Suet. ubi sup. Dio, ubi sup. f Suet, and Dio, loc. cit. 


Last Words. 


169 


men : Long live Nero the Olympic ! Long life to 
the Nemean hero ! Hail to the Pythian Augustus ! 
Glory to the Isthmian! Augustus forever! Hail 
Nero, second Hercules ! Apollonian Nero ! Augus- 
tus ! Augustus ! Divine voice ! Happy he who 
hears that voice! Such extravagances as these 
were repeated and taken up by the Augustans who 
preceded and those who followed the car of triumph. 
Meanwhile a Grecian harper rose up at the side of 
the conqueror and prepared to sing his paean, look- 
ing from time to time upon the Emperor, but 
always bending the knee before him as if overcome 
by awe before the present deity.* 

Thus did Nero go up by the Sacred street to the 
temple of Capitoline Jupiter, and passing under the 
arch of Nero, went down by the descent near the 
Asylum, which route led him along the walls of the 
Mamertine Prison, before entering the Forum, on 
his way to the shrine of Apollo in the palace.f 


*Dio Cassius, 1. c. — Did not such a people deserve such 
a ruler ? 

f Suet. Nero, 25, does not describe the triumphal procession 
to the Capitol ; he only says ; “ Dehinc diruto circi Maximi 
arcu, per Velabrum, Forumque, Palatinum et Apollinem petiit.” 
But Dio, 1. c., expressly states, that “ he went up to the Capitol 
and thence to the Palatine.” And certainly in a triumph for 
artistic excellence, not for military achievements, the procession 
should naturally have ended at the shrine of the god of Art, and 
not at that of Capitoline Jupiter. Xhere were two routes by 


lyo Simon Peter and Simon Magus. 


As he passed along the front of that stern facade 
hardly adorned with a few carved festoons, he was 
reminded by the applause from the roof of the prison, 
that it was an old custom of Roman conquerors, to 
send the vanquished leaders here to be put to death. 

which the procession might reach the summit of the Capitolium 
— the Capitolium slope, the shortest way for one coming up 
from the Yelabrum, and by the ascent of the Asylum on the 
opposite side — but both ascents began in the Forum. To 
discover the route chosen by Nero we must notice that he came 
from Albanum and entered at the Porta Capena. Then having 
passed through the Sacred street — the usual route of triumphal 
processions — which ran between the Celian and Capitoline hills, 
he went straight to the Circus Maximus, then to the Yelabrum 
and through the Forum, passing through the Tuscan or Jugarian 
lanes', which would be the most direct way. Then he would 
find himself before the Tiberian arch, where both the Jugarian 
lane and the Sacred street came to an end ; this point is not far 
from the present Santa Maria Liberatrice. At the arch of 
Tiberius began the ascent to the Capitolium, the ascent of which 
was called the Sacred slope or Summa Via Sacra. So he 
would naturally go up by this way ; and if so, he must 
necessarily have descended by the declivity of the Asylum. 
This slope passed through the Intermontium, the modern Capi- 
tol square, almost where the hand-rail for the use of foot- 
passengers is now seen, only that for vehicles there was a slight 
turn to the left, following the direction of the lane of San Pietro 
in Carcere, then turning towards the Forum it entered near the 
point where still stands the arch of Severus. Thus it is plain 
that the procession must have passed before the Mamertine 
Prison a little before returning from the Capitol to the Forum. 
Nero crossed this space diagonally, following the direction of 
the modern promenade, and ascended to the Palace on the 
Palatine, opposite the Church of Santa Francesca Romana. 


Last Words. 1 7 1 



Turning to Tigellinus, he said : “ To-day I have no 
enemies ; see that you find me what I want by 
to-morrow.” 

And he did not remember that whilst he, of all 
criminals the most criminal, was glorying in his 
triumphal car, the holy Apostles Peter and Paul 
were close beside him, wasting away in an unwhole- 
some dungeon, by his own order. There a little 
earthen lamp, hanging by a string, the other end of 
which was fastened to a stone resting on the edge 
of the narrow opening, cast a dim light around the 
subterranean chamber ; but it was enough for 
Pudens, who sat at a kind of little table or desk, just 
before the two Apostles, and was writing, at the 
dictation of Peter, that Apostle’s last epistle to the 
rising Church.* Safe from any danger of interrup- 
tion, while the imperial pageant absorbed all 
attention without, Peter turned his thoughts to the 
universal Church and left it this last farewell, this 
enduring testament and irrefragable prophecy. 


* Of the 2d epistle of St. Peter, Cornelius a Lapide, says: 
“ Liquet scriptam esse Roraae, e carcere, ut videtur, Mamertino.” 
Who the amanuensis may have been — if indeed there was 
one — does not appear, though we may well suppose that it was 
St. Pudens. This is not contradicted by the passage in 
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. VII, 17, where he speaks of a 
certain Glaucia, who acted as interpreter for St. Peter ; for the 
writer mentions neither time nor place. 


172 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

Standing erect at the foot of the pillar to which he 
was chained, with Paul close beside him, he began : 
“ Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus 
Christ, to them who have obtained equal faith with 
us, in the justice of our God and Saviour Jesus 
Christ” And then with his arms crossed upon his 
breast, his countenance turned upward, with beaming 
brow and kindling eyes as one who reads the awful 
secrets of Heaven, he resumed, in a few points, the 
precepts of the gospel-law. He reminded all, that 
by its faithful observance man perseveres in divine 
grace and is supported by the participation with the 
divine nature ; that no one should deceive himself 
by reliance on a dead faith, but that by means of 
faithful endeavors they should secure their vocation. 

“ Oh ! Father,” interrupted the good neophyte 
Pudens, with modest anxiety, “ I have heard this 
made a difficulty by many brethren anxious for 
their eternal salvation. What if we are not destined 
for heaven ? If we were one day to fall back into 
sin, like Simon, the magician, even after baptism ? 
What would it profit us then to have been called to 
the grace of the faith ?” 

To which Peter replied with a smile of singular 
sweetness : “ As a consolation to your own vain 
fear and to that of others add this sentence : 
‘ Wherefore, brethren, labor the more, that by good 


Last Words . 


173 


works you may make sure your vocation and 
election : for doing these things, you shall not sin 
at any time. For so an entrance shall be ministered 
to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of 
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.’ Now, my son, 
are you satisfied ?” 

“Thanks, Father,” answered Pudens, “these words 
alone, from your lips, make me bless a thousand 
times the hour in which I came down into this 
prison ! I shall repeat them to all, to all. When I 
hear from any one that impious expression : If God 
has destined me to be saved, I shall be saved in 
spite of everything ; and if God has decreed that I 
shall be damned, I shall be damned without remedy ; 
therefore it is foolish to trouble myself about doing 
good or evil, — Fool ! I shall say to him, with your 
wrong principles you draw a conclusion wholly 
false. It is yours, by the use or by the abuse of 
grace, by good or by bad deeds, to carry out what 
Gcd has decreed. So strive to secure your vocation 
and election by good works.”* 

Peter then went on to say that the putting off of 

* Cf. A Lap. on these words of St. Peter, in his II, Ep., I, 
10 ; “ Satagite ut per bona opera certam vestram vocationem et 
electionem faciatis: hsec enim facientes non peccabitis aliquando.” 
Then the learned Commentator, by the power of reasoning and 
the help of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church explains at 
length the doctrines which here are merely mentioned. 


174 Simon Peter arid Simon Magus. 


this tabernacle was near at hand; but that still it 
seemed just to him, as long as he remained in this 
tabernacle, to stir them up by admonition, to renew 
the memory of the truths already familiar to them, 
just as he had received them from the lips of Jesus 
Christ, of Whose greatness he had been an eye- 
witness on Mount Thabor ; and that even after his 
decease he would endeavor that they should fre- 
quently have wherewith they might keep a memory 
of those things. Then he bore witness to the 
Sacred Writings, which he said, were inspired by 
the Holy Ghost, and were given to the Church, to 
be as a light kindled at the flame of the uncreated 
light, to shine through the darkness of the world ; 
but he warned them to understand this first, “ that 
no prophecy of the Scripture is made by private 
interpretation/’* Having thus summed up the 
teachings of divine revelation and pointed out the 
twofold teaching of scripture and tradition, he gave 


* Hoc primum intelligentes, quod omnis proplietia scripturae 
propria interpretation e non fit.” II Petr. I, 20. Prophetia 
Scripturce, is here used by St. Peter in the same sense as by St. 
Luke and St. Paul, viz: of exposition, comment or explanation. 
Cf. Act. Apost. XXI, 9 ; I, Cor. the whole XIV chapter. In 
the early Church the gift of prophetic explanation, though fre- 
quent, yet was not common; “numquid omnes prophetse?” 
1, Cor. XII, 29. 


Last Words. 


175 


a last blow to the corrupters of the pure deposit of 
faith — the heretics. 

Better directed or more powerful thunderbolts 
were never hurled against the rebels to the divine 
word, than those contained in that short letter, the 
testament of Peter. He describes them not in 
words but with flashes of lightning; he traces out 
their ignoble origin, their malicious disposition, 
their execrable habits of life, and shows the certain 
ruin, the threatening judgment, the unavoidable 
punishment which awaits them. The hand of 
Pudens trembled as he wrote these lines ; Paul, 
with his face buried in his hands, was awaiting the 
end. At this moment was heard the noise of Nero’s 
triumph approaching the prison, the confused and 
frantic outcries of the multitude seemed to rise 
above the stars; the thundering and creaking of 
the chariots as they rolled along the street above, 
resounded even down in the deep dungeon of the 
Mamertine Prison. Pudens had just written these 
words : “ But the heavens which now are, and the 
earth, by the same word are kept in store, reserved 
unto fire against the day of judgment, and perdition 
of wicked men.” 

Pudens laid down his pen and looked up at the 
Apostle with an expression of doubt and astonish- 
ment which seemed to say : “ But meanwhile these 


176 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

wicked men triumph and we are here in tribulation ; 
and God does not seem to help His own.” 

Peter, who read the thoughts of his heart, said to 
him : “ Why are you fearful ? Are you scandalized 
at the passing prosperity of a wicked man ? Write : 
‘ But be not ignorant, my beloved, of this one thing, 
that one day with the Lord is as a thousand years, 
and a thousand years as one day. The Lord 
delayeth not his promise as some imagine; but 
beareth patiently for your sake, not willing that any 
should perish, but that all should return to penance. 
But the day of the Lord shall come as a thief, in 
which the heavens shall pass away with great 
violence ; and the elements shall be dissolved with 
heat; and the earth, and the works that are in it, 
shall be burnt up. Seeing then, that all these things 
are to be dissolved, what manner of people ought 
you to be in holy conversations and godliness, 
waiting for, and hastening unto the coming of the 
day of the Lord, by which the heavens being on 
fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt 
with the burning heat of fire ? But we look for 
new heavens and a new earth, according to His 
promise, in which justice dwelleth.’ ”* 

“ Father,” exclaimed Pudens, “ by these words you 


* II, Petr. Ill, 7-14. 


Last Wvrds. 


1 77 


have plucked a thorn out of my heart, and will yet 
pluck it out of many others. I understand now 
that the certain and everlasting punishment of crime 
cannot be long delayed.” 

“ Has not our Brother Paul already said the same, 
in his many letters,” replied Peter, “ and even lately 
to the Romans?”* 

“I remember,” said Pudens, “but ‘repetita 
juvant,’ and now I understand them more clearly.” 

“ You know,” said Paul, turning with a smile to 
Peter, “ that not all understand my letters at the 
first reading ; it is not, therefore, surprising that 
Pudens should not have caught their whole meaning 
at once. But not only that ! Some turn them 
wholly away from their real sense, so as to make 
them mean the exact opposite of what we teach.” 

“Yes,” replied Peter, “I know who these are. 
But now Pudens will apply the healing ointment to 
their eyes.” And he continued to dictate : 
“ Wherefore, dearly beloved, waiting for these 
things, be diligent that you may be found before 
Him unspotted and blameless in peace : and account 
the long-bearing of our Lord, salvation ; as also our 
most dear brother Paul, according to the wisdom 
given to him, hath written to you. As also in all 

* Cf. I, Cor. Ill, 13-16; Hebr. ch’s. Ill and IV, and X, 36- 
39; Rom. II, 4-8. 

12 


178 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

his epistles speaking in them of these things ; in 
which are some things hard to be understood, which 
the unlearned and unstable wrest, as also the other 
scriptures, to their own perdition. You, therefore, 
brethren, knowing these things before, beware ; lest, 
being led away by the error of the unwise, you fall 
from your own steadfastness. But increase in grace, 
and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and unto 
the day of eternity. Amen.”* 

“ Blessed be God !” exclaimed Paul, “ Who hath 
inspired thee to warn the faithful against the 
corrupters of the divine word, for it is not ours, but 
of the Holy Ghost. How much "agony it has 
caused me to see those new teachers, with the 
Sacred Writings in hand, placing a stumbling block 
in the way of so many, many souls !” 

“ Unhappy men !” exclaimed Pudens, recalling 
the words of Paul, for he knew most of his letters 
by heart: “It is of them that you wrote: 4 From 
which things some going astray are turned aside to 
vain talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, 
understanding neither the things they say, nor 
whereof they affirm. But we know that the law is 
good, if a man use it lawfully.’ ”f 

* II, Peter. Ill, 14, et seqq. 

f These are the words of St. Paul, I Tim. I, 6-9. And it is 


Last IVords. 


179 


“ You have it perfectly !” said Peter to the Senator ; 
“ you have it perfectly. The interpretation of the 
Scriptures is not a thing of private judgment. The 
Scripture is a two-edged sword and should not be 
put into the hands of an inexperienced person. 
Bread and wine are very good for nourishment, but 
to little children they should be administered by a 
careful mother.” 

“ Oh ! Father, I shall not soon forget this. My 
soul is still shuddering at the very thought of the 
blasphemous interpretations of Simon Magus.” 

“ Well,” concluded Peter, “ take that parchment to 
my brethren Linus, Cletus and Clement. If your 
good girls will make some copies of it, they will 
receive a reward from God and the gratitude of the 
Church.” 

“ And from you and from Paul, my revered 
Masters,” said Pudens, throwing himself on his knees 
before the Apostles and kissing their chains. They 
raised him up, embraced him affectionately and 


worth remarking that from the very earliest times heresies were 
broached in the name of the Bible. Simon Magus and his 
followers quoted it copiously in all their discourses. This is a 
remark of St. Augustine, and it is confirmed by the early 
historians of the individual heresies. We should not, therefore, 
be surprised to find St. Paul warning the Christians of the 
danger ; and St. Peter, in his last farewell to the Church, 
putting the faithful on their guard against such corrupters. 


180 Simon Peter and Simon Magus. 

gave him their blessing for himself and all his holy 
family. 

The Christian Senator issued from the Mamertine 
and mingled in the crowd, which was at that 
moment pouring out of the Forum. 

Nero, on reaching his palace, began to calculate 
the amount of proscription and confiscation that 
would be necessary to pay off the expenses of his 
extravagant display. 






CHAPTER IX. 

THE LAST DAYS OF PETER AND PAUL. 

OME was full of the splendid triumph of Au- 
gustus ; it was the common topic both in the 
/ gatherings of the people and in the social 
meeting of the higher classes. The clubs of the 
Augustans, the dressing-rooms of the imperial 
troupe and all the rendezvous of the more insignifi- 
cant hangers-on about the court were repeating the 
current talk with the additional ornament of the 
Grecian feats: “Hercules, with his twelve labors, 
would not, by a great deal, have made a better show 
of it than did Nero ; but the most wonderful thing 
of all was the way in which the undaunted Caesar 
has brought so many great undertakings to a glori- 
ous end, in the course of a few months ; certainly 
Nero could never have sprung from human parents, 
he was a god as great as Jupiter, best and greatest; 
perhaps even greater. Olympus has recognized 
him, let Rome remember this in her need.” These 

181 






1 82 Simon Peter arid Simon Magus . 

stupid exaggerations of flattery brought the blush 
of shame to the brow of the few honorable men 
who still bore a Roman heart within their breasts. 
The wealthy were calculating the resources of the 
imperial treasury, now entirely drained, and of their 
own purses which would inevitably be called upon 
to replenish it; every citizen of any note was in 
constant dread lest each hour of the day might 
bring to their doors an imperial order of imprison- 
ment and death, which orders were generally 
accompanied by one of Nero’s physicians, with the 
command to see to a speedy execution.* 

The Christians, on the other hand, fearless and 
ready for any event, were perfectly resigned to all 
misfortunes, individual or general. Here was 
indeed a new people ; a chosen, a heavenly people 
growing up in the midst of an earthly and grovel- 
ling nation ; but as its aspirations were lofty, wholly 
foreign to the universal spirit of corruption, it never 
experienced the same unholy joys or useless griefs. 
The throne of Augustus would have stood longer 
had the doting people of Quirinus allowed itself to 
be strengthened and rejuvenated, and joined its des- 


* “ Mori jussis non amplius quam horarum spatium dabat 
(Nero). Ac ne quid morse interveniret, medicos admovebat, qui 
cunctantes continuo curarent: ita enim vocabat, venas mortis 
gratia incidere.” Suet. Nero, n. 37. 


The Last Days of Peter and Paul ’ 183 


tinies to those of the virgin people rising up within 
its walls. So far as the Christians were concerned, 
there had been no triumph of Nero ; few of them 
had witnessed it ; they looked upon the Emperor 
pretty much as they would upon a plague, trusting 
that Providence would soon send them better times. 
They never thought of him save to accept his yoke ; 
in a word, they lived faithful to their earthly 
country, but strangers to its vices, and as such, with 
minds and hearts in a better land. 

Within the domestic walls their conversations 
turned still upon the glories and the sufferings of 
their beloved Apostles in captivity ; they delighted 
to speak of their wonderfully successful aposto- 
late in the prison itself, and to repeat the words 
they chanced to have heard from them. Thus 
when some one of the faithful succeeded in gaining 
access to the Tullian prison, the brethren flocked 
eagerly around him, on his return, to hear what 
each one of the Apostles had said to him, and these 
expressions were treasured up with the greatest 
care and reverence ; so that the voice of the 
Apostles, though apparently silenced, continued to 
resound through the families of the neophytes and 
in the meetings of the faithful. Thus did the 
Christians learn the least details of the fall of Simon 
the magician. Paul had joined his prayer to that 


184 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

of Peter, at one and the same moment, and thus 
united in spirit, they had risen up to beg of God 
the humiliation of the wicked imposter, the one on 
the Sacred Street, the other in the depth of the 
Tullian prison.* 

“ Oh ! how I should like to know the prayer that 
Peter offered then !” exclaimed Pudentiana on hear- 
ing the account from her father. 

“ Nothing more simple,” said Pudens, “ I have it 
from the lips of Peter himself, and it is the very 
same you would have made yourself, had you seen 
the magician going up, ‘ Lord Jesus,* he said, ‘ let 
this poor wretch learn the impotence of his arts, 
and let not those already true to the faith be scanda- 
lized by this wonder. Grant, O Lord, that he may 
fall, but let him survive to acknowledge his own 
powerlessness.’ ”f 


* Even this little item of tradition we love to gather up with 
studious care ; especially as we find that several Fathers and 
early writers take pains to bring out the fact that Peter and 
Paul prayed together on that occasion. Among others Yid. 
Sulp. Sev. Hist. Sacr. II, 27 ; S. Cyrill, Hieros. Catech. YI, 
15 ; S. Maxim. Tatjrin. Horn. LXXII, ed Migne. St. Isidore 
of Seville is more explicit than any of the others ; he says in his 
Chronica: “ Adjurante eos (daemones) Petro, per Deum, Paulo 
vero orante, (Simon) dimissus crepuit,” this seems to us to con- 
ciliate the various traditions. 

f This prayer is found in the work Be Excid. Hieros. II, 2. 
In the Constit. Apost. YI, 9, there is a more elaborate prayer, 
but it shows too much evidence of interpolation. 


The Last Days of Peter and Paul . 185 

“And with that little prayer,” exclaimed Puden- 
tiana, “ Peter caused his fall ?” 

“ What ! does it seem trifling to you ?” interrupted 
her sister Praxedes ; “ would not the name of 
Jesus Christ alone have been enough, and from the 
lips of Peter? What seems strange to me is that 
the magician should have been allowed even to rise 
at all.” 

“ Rather,” interposed the Senator, “ it was best as 
it was ; to let his enemy, or rather the enemy of 
God, rise up on high, and then with a little word to 
give him a plunge and bring him down.” 

“ And moreover,” added Claudia, “ Simon should 
consider himself under obligations to Peter for 
having saved his life; for naturally, falling from 
such a height he must have broken his neck twice 
over and have been dashed to pieces on the pave- 
ment like a toad.” 

“ But is he really alive ?” asked Pudentiana. 

“No,” answered Pudens, “but he survived the 
fall, and so well too, that his disciples carried him 
to Aricia for the cure of his mangled hands and feet 
and dislocated limbs.” 

“ He must have repented after such a lesson.” 

“ Repented ! Yes, after such a fashion that he 
had pride enough to wish to attempt a second flight ; 
he jumped from the balcony of a country-house of 


1 86 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

his, which he called Brunda, and was injured worse 
than the first time.” 

“ And did he not die this time ?” 

‘‘Yes, but not immediately, and not even after 
the fall.” 

“ See ! What obstinacy ! How good is God to 
give him so much time for repentance !” 

“And yet it is useless. For when he saw himself 
so bruised and shattered, weary of life and despair- 
ing of ever being able to restore his reputation, he 
called his disciples around him and said to them : 
‘All these bodily injuries I have inflicted on myself 
of my own free-will, to confirm you in my teachings ; 
for just as you now see me, I shall soon die, and on 
the third day I shall rise again from death to life.’ ” 

“ And did they believe him ?” asked both sisters 
in a breath. 

“ Indeed they did. They dug the grave at once 
and buried him alive as he was.” 

“ Alive ? The cruel men !” 

“ No ; it was his own wish and command.” 

“ How God blinds the proud ! That poor wretch 
who pretended to fly up to heaven, soon after, 
through very shame, has himself hidden away under 
ground. These are punishments from God!”* 

* The author of the work Be Excid. Hierosol. ubi sup., say3 : 
“Fracto debilitatoque crure Aritiam concessit.” Arnobius, 


The Last Days of Peter and Paul. 187 


Such were the sentiments and conversations of 
the faithful, so long as there was a ray of hope that 
the blessed Apostles might regain their freedom. 
And wonderful were the rejoicings when they 


Adv. Gent . II, 12, adds ; “ Perlatum Brundam, cruciatibus ex 
pudore defessum ex altissimi culminis se rursum prsecipitasse 
fastigio.” The author of the Philosophumena. VI, I, 20, 
concludes that being now tl destined to be deceived because he 
persisted too much (or because he was growing too old, for 
both these meanings may be drawn from the expression 
Sta ro eyxpovi&v,) he gave out that if he were buried alive he would 
rise again on the third day. He then directed his disciples to 
dig his grave and to bury him in it. They did as he ordered ; 
and there he remains to this day, because he was not the Christ." 
We have blended these various traditions as is becoming in a 
legend. As for Brunda, we do not know certainly where or 
what it was. The distinguished writer Fabiani lately 
endeavored to show that it was the Brontium (fipovnlov), a 
theatrical machine for producing the imitation of thunder : but 
much as we should desire to agree with the illustrious Com- 
mentator we cannot accept this explanation; for, not to mention 
other reasons, from Brunda Simon cast himself down, "ex 
fastigio altissimi,” whereas the Brontium was kept under the 
stage; and moreover it does not seem at all credible that a man 
maimed in both hands and feet should immediately afterwards 
have himself carried on the Brontium to the top of the stage 
machinery to try his flight again. Concerning the residence of 
Simon at Aricia, Ltjcidius, Mem . Ster. dell’ Aric. II, 1, p. 317, 
very learnedly discourses on a temple raised there to St. Peter 
in honor of his triumph over Simon Magus ; he also speaks of 
a sarcophagus in which local traditions say that the ashes of 
Simon Magus were preserved : but this writer does not think 
that the style of the sculpture corresponds with that of the 
Neronian age. 


1 88 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 


learned the new conquests made by Peter and Paul ; 
especially were they gladdened by the conversion 
of the soldiers in charge of the prison, for besides 
the good done to their souls, the soldiers afforded a 
new means of communicating with the prisoners, 
and were most faithful messengers between the 
Apostles and the faithful. But their joy at this 
acquisition was equalled now by their grief at its 
loss ; for it was soon discovered by the heathens 
that the soldiers belonged to the new superstition, 
as they then styled the Christian religion, and the 
converts passed from the position of guards over 
the Apostles to the honor of being their companions 
in captivity and their followers to martyrdom.* 
From that time forth, communication with the 
Apostles was almost entirely cut off ; matters only 
grew worse, too, after Nero had returned to the 
palace with a mind overcome by the blind terror of 
conspiracies. It was feared that the report of the 
conversion in the prison might exasperate the 
bloody monster and drive him on to pronounce the 
final sentence on all the prisoners. Every lingering 
hope was beginning to fade; Jesus Christ had 
foretold to Peter the manner of his death, by 
violence; the last letter of Peter, dictated in his 

* Act. SS. Process, et Martinian., Surius, June 2d and 
Baron, ann. 68, n. 23. 


The Last Days of Peter and Paul . 189 


dungeon, was like a last will, and bore moreover 
the open announcement of his approaching death. 
It would be impossible to describe the sighs and 
tears with which the reading of this letter was 
received in the assemblies of the faithful in Rome. 
The brethren now lived in continual fear and 
trembling; and not without good reason. How 
could Nero help remembering Peter and Paul, when 
they had been publicly accused before him ? And 
even if he could have forgotten that, would they 
not be recalled to his mind by the many conversions 
they had wrought during his own stay in Greece ? 
Could the report of their wonderful works, which 
was now filling Rome, escape his ears ? Would 
not the Jews be only too glad of this opportunity to 
satisfy their rage at the number of deserters from 
the Synagogue ? And the Simonians, now quite 
numerous and excited to the highest pitch of malice, 
how could they be expected not to run their victims 
to the death ?* 


* Following the traditions which are invalidated by no 
historical document, we cannot agree with those who would 
place the martyrdom of St. Peter before the return of Nero from 
Achaia. We have not yet found one positive confirmation of 
this latter opinion. We follow the common belief which places 
the martyrdom of Peter and Paul under Nero, and under Nero 
present in Pv,ome, at least, if not at the scene of the martyrdom, 
as some writer has represented him. 


190 Simon Peter and Simon Magus. 

Praxedes and Pudentiana, besides the common 
affliction, were also deeply grieved when they 
thought of their beloved sister Thecla, whom they 
had invited to Rome, in the name of Peter. Their 
sorrow was increased by the thought that she might 
come too late to see her beloved master Paul alive, 
or at least only to see him prepare for the fatal 
block, and then lose him forever. The three bishops, 
Linus, Cletus and Clement, vicars of St. Peter, in 
Rome,* and depositories of the most intimate 
apostolic secrets, now spoke of nothing else but the 
manner of solemnizing the triumph of their blessed 
fathers. But still they were alive to every rumor, 
so as not to be taken by surprise, and so that the 
Christians, warned of every new feature in the case 
of the Apostles, might follow them with their 
fervent prayers and devotions to their last hour. 
They held frequent consultations with Luke the 
evangelist, also with Titus and Timothy, fervent 
disciples who had been summoned to Rome from 
their episcopal sees of Candia and Ephesus, as well 
as with other older dignitaries of the Church, to 
take measures in the extreme difficulties of the 
times.f 

* Cf. Bianchim, Ciacconio, Pagi, et al. in the notes to Anast. 
Bibl. Vita Bom. Pont, ed Migne, 1. 1, pp. 1034-1114. 

f St. Titus had already been placed over the Church in Crete, 


The Last Days of Peter and Paul ’ 1 9 1 


Finally the report went abroad that Nero had 
ordered that the Capitoline prison should be 
emptied ; it was but too well known how this 
process of emptying was generally carried on. 
Pudens taking the matter earnestly in hand, carried 
it on so vigorously that, between personal influence 
and liberal use of gold, he obtained certain informa- 
tion that a capital sentence was prepared by Nero 
against Peter and Paul : he knew the very day and 
hour destined for its execution. The news flew like 
lightning through all the churches in Rome.* 

It was the fourth day before the kalends of July; 
in the palace of the Senator Pudens the leading 
members of the Christian Church had met in 

Tit. I, 5, and had, a short time previously, been sent to set in 
order the Churches of Dalmatia, II Tim. IV, 10. But it is proba- 
ble that, having learned the danger of the Apostles, he came to 
Rome at once, as we find it stated in the Passio Sti. Pauli 
(Biblioth. SS. PP. of La Bigne, 1. 1,) attributed to St. Linus; 
this document is apocryphal, as all know, but yet it is not 
wholly without historical value. The presence of St. Timothy 
is much more probable, for St. Paul, while in prison, had urged 
him to come to Rome: “Festina ante hiemem venire, 5 ' II Tim. 
IV, 21; and Timothy was a friend of the family of Pudens: 
“Salutant te Eubulus, et Pudens et Claudia,” Ibid. Both 
Saints are represented as in Rome at this time, by Halloix, 
Vita S. Dionys. Areop. Cap. IX. 

* That this sentence was pronounced by Nero in person is an 
ancient tradition founded upon the various acts of Sts. Peter and 
Paul ; and, what is more, several Fathers and old ecclesiastical 
writers seem to bear the same witness very clearly. 


192 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 


mournful assembly. Besides the priests, there were 
several illustrious Roman citizens, among whom 
might be seen Acilius, Glabro and Flavius Clemens, 
afterwards Consuls, and Eubulus, the freedman. 
The greater portion of the sisters were there, too ; 
for in the task of attending to the martyrs, they 
were accustomed, by an acknowledged right, to 
claim the principal part. This assembly was the 
saddest perhaps, they had ever held, and all were 
nearly mute with grief; *hey had hardly the 
courage to look one another in the face, to confer 
in subdued whispers, in words broken by sighs and 
tears. Linus proposed that the matrons alone 
should, according to the usual custom, follow and 
wait upon the Apostles, as they would incur less 
danger; that the remainder of the faithful should 
try to mingle with the crowd of spectators, so as 
not to be discovered : that only a few priests should 
attend, to render such services as might be neces- 
sary. 

All assented to the proposal of Linus, whom 
they knew to have been appointed by Peter as his 
successor in the apostolic chair. It only remained 
to choose those who should attend to the martyrs ; 
the eyes of all turned to Plautilla, a venerable 
matron of the Flavian house, and Pomponia 
Graecina, as if to point them out for so honorable a 


The Last Days of Peter and Paul . 193 


prerogative. And upon them, in fact, the choice 
did fall, for they who had already given the last 
rites to countless martyrs, certainly deserved this 
honor. To these were added two other noble 
ladies, Anastasia and Basilissa, as aids, with Claudia 
Sabinilla, who, besides other numerous claims upon 
the Church, had a right to this privilege, as hostess 
of the Apostles.* These pious matrons thanked 
Linus and the brethren for this coveted honor, with 
tears of mingled grief and gratitude, and rather by 
signs than words. 

No one imagined that another attendant of the 
martyrs was coming to them from afar and unex- 
pected. While the chosen ones were dividing 
among themselves the duties incumbent upon 
each, Pudentiana entered the hall, with a flushed 
face ; without stopping to look at any one she went 
straight to her mother and whispered in her ear : 

“ Do you know ? Thecla is here !” 


* Plautilla (of whom we have already spoken at some length) 
is mentioned in the Passio 8. Pauli , quoted above, Pomponia 
Grascina seems to be mentioned in the same place, on the suppo^ 
sition adopted by us, that she is the same with the St. Lucina 
there spoken of, and well known in the old martyrologies — June 
30th — as a follower of the Apostles. For Sts. Anastasia and 
Basilissa, see Baronius, in his notes to the Martyrol. Rom April 
15th, where both are said to have suffered martyrdom for 
having taken charge of the bodies of Sts. Peter and Paul, 

13 


194 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

“Where?” 

“ In the ante-chamber, near the hall ; she has 
asked for you.” 

Claudia could not contain her emotion and said 
aloud : 

“Theda of Iconium has just arrived in the 
house.” 

“ Bring her in,” said Linus, who knew her well, 
(and who did not know Thecla in the Church of 
God ?) “ Pudentiana, do you and your sister ac- 

company her.” 

Pudens and Claudia went out to meet her. In a 
few moments the little hands of Pudentiana had re- 
opened the door and Claudia entered leading by the 
hand an aged lady of most noble mien, but wan, 
wrinkled, wasted, bending forward in an attitude of 
deep humility. She wore a brown dress, with the 
virginal veil.* Pudens and his little daughter 
Praxedes followed her. The whole assembly rose 
to do her honor, while Thecla, with a deep inclina- 
tion, uttered the usual Christian salutation : 

“ Peace be with you.” 

“ And with thy spirit,” answered the brethren. 


* “ In Thecla, according to the blessed teaching {of St. Paul 
on the advantage of virginity,) had died every trace of youth 
and beauty,” &c. S. Gregor. Nyss. Homil. XIV, sup. Cant. 
Op. Ed Migne, t. I, p. 1068. 


The Last Days of Peter and Paid ’ 195 

Thecla was too humble and modest to open the 
conversation ; the others felt even more diffident 
than herself. Nobody found the first words in the 
presence of that renowned virgin surrounded with 
such a halo of holiness and miracles. What could 
they say, too, in the actual state of things in the 
Church ? They knew that she had crossed the sea, 
doubtless with the ‘hope of being able to kiss the 
chains of Peter and of her beloved teacher Paul ; 
and how could they tell her, as a first greeting, as 
the first mark of courteous welcome, that both 
Apostles were already under the executioner’s axe ? 
Every face was full of grief, every eye wet with 
tears ; they could not keep down their grief, it was 
like a funeral. 

Thecla perceived this and said : “ My masters 
and brethren in Jesus Christ, I see well that I have 
come in upon you unexpectedly, in the midst of 
your tribulation — yet I may deliver to you the 
greetings of our brethren in Seleucia whence I 
come.”* 


* From the Acta S. Theclvc, in the martyrology of St. Ado, 
Sept. 23d, it is related that this Saint, after many wonderful 
interpositions of Providence, was restored to freedom by the 
Proconsul, who had condemned her to be exposed to the wild 
beasts — a thing which was sometimes done at this period when 
the edicts of persecution had not yet been officially published — 
and then passed the remainder of her life in Seleucia. The same 


196 Simo 7 i Peter and Simon Magus . 


“ May Jesus Christ give prosperity and happiness 
to our brethren in Sdeucia,” replied Linus : “ and 
you, dear sister, have not come out of season, but 
are always beloved and blessed by the brethren in 
Rome.” 

“ Thanks for your great charity,” said Theda : 
“but all are in great grief through love for Peter 
and Paul.” 

At the mention of these names, such a burst of 
grief was manifested in the assembly that Theda 
understood at once that Peter and Paul were really 
the subject of their mourning. She became alarmed, 
in turn, and asked with some anxiety : “ Father, I 
conjure you, hide nothing from me! What has 
become of our Apostles ? Do they still live ?” 

“ They shall live on earth until to-morrow,” 
replied Linus, “ and then in heaven.” 

Theda allowed her head to sink forward upon 

account is given in the Acts of Paul and of Theda — Yid. 
Bibliot. Vet. Pair, by Gallandi, t. I, p. 167, Venice edition, 
1765 — and though these acts are not held in great repute, by 
reason of the fables introduced into them by writers more pious 
than discreet, yet in every material point they agree with the 
acts of the martyrology of St. Ado, and, what is more satisfactory, 
with the many testimonies of the ancient Fathers. Some of 
the least reliable traditions represent her as having come to 
Rome.— Vid. Bolland, Sept. 23d, p. 555. But without commit- 
ting ourselves to any of these traditions, we take the simple 
probability, which is not contradicted by any ancient writing. 


The Last Days of Peter and Paul. 197 

her breast, as if the words of Linus had been an 
arrow which pierced her to the heart. This weak- 
ness, however, was but passing : she shook off the 
stupor, raised her head and her eyes to heaven, 
clasped her hands tightly together, but did not 
weep. In this attitude she remained for a moment, 
mute and motionless ; then she murmured : “ God’s 
will be done ! I shall witness with my own eyes, 
the death of my father ! But could I not possibly 
see the Apostles to-day ?” 

“Sister,” answered Linus, “you have, at other 
times, obtained from his jailors, access to Paul by 
means of your jewels ;* but these keepers are 
inexorable. You may perhaps see his glorious 
remains, if God grants us the consolation of obtaining 
possession of them.” 

“ Oh ! Father,” she exclaimed, throwing herself 
at his feet, with outstretched hands, “ shall I then 
only behold him dead ? May this chalice pass from 
me !” This was uttered in a tone of intense agony, 
which gave a singular fitness, on her lips, to the 
words of the agonizing Saviour. Linus, who was 
deeply moved, said to her : 

“ Handmaid of the Lord, I shall not add sorrow 


* Acts of St. Thecla. St. John Chrysostom, Homily XXV, 
on the Acts of the Apostles, Opp. ed. Migne, t. IX, p. 198. 


198 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

to your sorrows ; our virgins are not to be present 
at the martyrdom ; but to your venerable age I 
grant that you should follow our Apostles to their 
passion as God may inspire you. You may thus 
see them in their last triumph and receive their last 
blessing.” 

These words seemed to give new life to Thecla. 
She rose up, her countenance as serene as might be 
amid such heart-rending grief, inquired into the 
condition of the Church in Rome, and gave a full 
account of herself and of the brethren in Asia. She 
asked particularly about the sufferings of the 
Apostles, their condemnation, the place of punish- 
ment, in a word about all the particulars connected 
with those days of sorrow and trepidation. But so 
great was the grief of each member of the flock, 
that hardly a word was spoken save to mourn the 
imminent departure of Peter and Paul from earth. 
Thecla conferred with the matrons who were to 
have charge of the funeral rites. The assembly was 
dismissed amid tears and sighs ; and that night was 
one of watching and prayer in all the Churches of 
Rome. 

Nero knew nothing of the tears and prayers of 
Christian Rome; he was busy with his usual 
ostentatious folly, celebrating his Grecian victories. 
The crowns of triumph he sent to be raised up in 


The Last Days of Peter and PauL 199 


sight of the people on the obelisk of the Circus 
Maximus and on that of his own Circus on the 
Vatican. They were afterwards, by his order, 
removed from there, and suspended, some in the 
halls of his own palace near at hand, others in the 
Palatine palace and Golden house ;* the city was 
full of Nero’s crowns. And he did not see, the 
senseless man ! that all the crowns of the earth were 
falling from his hands, that the very diadem of the 
empire was tottering on his head, and was soon to 
pass to the brow of a despised foreigner whom he 
held in chains in the Mamertine prison. 

At length came the dawn of the twenty-ninth day 
of June, eagerly sought by the prayers of the 
Apostles, tearful to the Church militant, the bearer 
of glory to those intrepid champions, indifferent 
to Nero, fore-ordained from all eternity by the 
Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, to end the 
sway of heathen Rome and to inaugurate the rule 
of believing Rome. The first flushes of the rising 
dawn found the faithful, sad and silent, watching the 
prison of Peter and Paul. Some were slowly 
moving up and down the ascent of the asylum, 

* Suet. Nero, 25; Dio Cassius, Histor. Rom. LXIII, 21. 
The obelisk of the Circus Maximus is now in the Piazza del 
Popolo, that of Nero’s Circus is on the square of St. Peter’s 
very near to its original position. 


200 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

others were pacing the Mamertine quarter, others, 
in groups, were conversing in the Forum, while 
others were hastening along the streets of the Vela- 
brum, towards the Porta Trigemina, having learned 
from Pudens that both prisoners were to be executed 
at the usual place, the Aquae Salviae on the Ostian 
road. The most numerous class of persons present 
were the Jews and some Pagans ; they were eager 
to see the criminals, and the Jews showed a cruel 
joy at the prospect of a speedy and bloody ven- 
geance. Each one of them showed the feelings of 
his heart upon his countenance, when, at the rising 
of the sun, the double guard was assembled, the 
doors of the prison grated upon their hinges, and 
were slowly swung back, as the prisoners at length 
appeared. 

The blessed Apostles saw the light for the first 
time after a long captivity in darkness, and their 
first glance, though painful from the dazzling effects 
of the light, was toward heaven which was already 
opening above their heads ; then quickly re- 
cognizing the disciples, amid the confused mass, 
they saluted them, and received in turn the affec- 
tionate greeting of their faithful followers. Their 
brutal jailors left them no time to comfort them- 
selves with these proofs of mutual charity, but led 
them quickly through the Forum, the Tuscan 


The Last Days of Peter and PauL 201 

quarter and the Velabrum to the Aemilian bridge.* 
Already had the whole quarter of the Trastevere 
heard that the two leaders of the Christians were 
going to punishment, and the whole Jewish popula- 
tion, very numerous in that part of Rome, poured 
in from every alley and by-way, crowding along to- 
ward the main street which led from the Aemilian 


* The Tuscan street, through which the Apostles were made 
to pass, on their way from the Mamertine prison, ran for some 
distance along the present Via della Consolazione, then turned 
into the Velabrum, of which the exact position is shown by the 
present San Georgio in Velabro and thence to the Aemilian 
bridge, the same as the Pons Lepidus, Lapideus, Palatinus, 
Senatorius, Ponte Sta. Maria, and now known as the Ponte 
Potto. This bridge crosses from the Velabrum to the very 
heart of the Trastevere ; then by following the Lungaretta we 
pass the Churches of St. Chrysogonus, Santa Maria in Traste- 
vere, then the Janiculum, and San Pietro Montorio, and finally 
the Porta San Pancrazio, the old Aurelian gate. The Foro 
Boario stood on the hither side of the bridge and opposite to 
the Trastevere ; it stretched along the river on the level space 
between the Ponto Potto and Santa Maria in Cosmedin, thus 
taking in the two little shrines of Fortuna Virilis now Santa 
Maria Egiziaca, and of the Mater Matuta (or according to 
others, ol Vesta) now Santa Maria del Sole. Between these 
two shrines the great Ostian street must evidently have passed 
which, at a short distance off, near the Church of Santa Maria 
in Cosmedin, led out of the Porta Trigemina, now in ruins; 
then running along between the slope of the Aventine and the 
Tiber it touched the Marmorata — one of the old dock-yards of 
Pome — and turning sharply inland passed the Cestian pyramid, 
where now stands the Porta Ostiense or St. Paul’s gate, in the 
still standing Aurelian wall. 


202 Simon Peter cmd Simon Magus . 

bridge to the Janiculum and the Aurelian gate, 
supposing that Peter, at least, who was of their 
nation, would be led to death by that route ; many, 
to secure a better view, hurried across the bridge 
and ranged themselves along the Forum Boarium, 
or cattle-market — especially thronging the space 
about the shrines of Fortuna Virilis and the Mater 
Matuta. 

It would not be easy to describe their rage when, 
after all their haste and trouble, they found them- 
selves deceived. The centurion of the guard, just 
before reaching the Aemilian bridge, turned to the 
left along the Tiber, and crossing the Forum 
Boarium was marching towards the Porta Trige- 
mina. At this movement the enraged populace, 
like a wild beast whose prey has been torn from its 
grasp, ran madly after the centurion, to turn him 
back. The prefects of the various districts meeting 
on the bridge determined to secure the rights of 
their people, and partly by reasoning, partly by in- 
fluence and money, to obtain the satisfaction of 
their cruel curiosity. 

But while this council was held on the bridge, the 
Apostles, hurried on by the soldiery, had already 
passed the Porta Trigemina and the dock-yard. As 
they passed along the slope of the Aventine, they 
had met a great number of Christian matrons and 


Last Days of Peter and Paul. 


203 


maidens, who came in little groups and bands from 
the villas along the hill, begging as a special favor 
the last blessing of Peter and Paul. The meeting 
of the Apostles with Plautilla was most affecting. 
This noble lady, trusting to the protection of her 
high rank, and strengthened by her charge to be 
present at the martyrdom, pressed forward eagerly, 
and with many tears offered her services to the 
Apostles. Paul, wishing to satisfy, as far as he 
could, this holy desire, said to her : 

“ Sister, it is a custom with those of my nation 
who are going to death, to bandage their eyes, have 
you a veil ?” 

. The holy matron looked about her, but she had 
not provided herself with another veil. 

“ Give me yours,” continued Paul, “ and I shall 
return it to you soon.” 

The guards laughed scornfully at this promise 
from a man so soon to be put to death. But 
Plautilla, quickly removing the veil from her head, 
handed it to Paul, at the same time kissing the 
fetters which confined his hands.* She then 
withdrew and followed them at a little distance. 

The escort had hardly passed the sepulchral 
pyramid of Caius Cestius, when the Jews of the 


Passion of St. Paul, in the Biblioth. of La Bigne, ubi sup. 


204 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

Trastevere came up, heated and covered with dust ; 
their leaders at once surrounded the centurion and 
began to reason with him. They alleged that “ of 
the criminals who were being led to execution, one 
was of their nation ; that he had been condemned 
by the justice of Caesar precisely because, after 
having deserted the ancestral rites of that nation, he 
had outraged the sanctity of the Roman religion 
and the majesty of Augustus ; reason demanded 
that this salutary example might not be denied to 
the inhabitants of the Trastevere, the more, too, 
because the people were now waiting in great 
excitement and indignation.” The centurion replied 
that the sentence did not specify any particular 
place, and that he was not at all disposed to turn 
back now, for their pleasure, especially as the sun 
was beginning to be extremely hot. He told them, 
moreover, that if they were so eager for the sight, 
they might accompany him to the Aquae Salviae, 
and there they might be consoled. But the savage 
populace, thirsting for blood, was not quieted by 
this cool reply. Their fast increasing numbers gave 
them additional boldness, and they began to cry 
out : 

“ Give him a turn through the Trastevere !” 
“ Caesar has said so !” “ We must see him on a 

cross !” 


Last Days of Peter and Paul. 205 

Some of the soldiers came up to the centurion 
and whispered to him : “ Satisfy them. Give them 
that one who is to be crucified ; what difference 
does it make to you ? They will repay the favor.” 

“You shall answer for it,” replied the centurion, 
“ if anything happens against the law. Take him, 
and crucify him wherever they wish.” 

Paul overheard the last words ; turning to Peter 
he threw his arms, loaded as they were with chains, 
about the neck of his fellow-apostle, and imprinted 
upon his forehead the last kiss of fraternal love, 
with the words : “ Peace be with thee, O Rock of 
the Church, and Shepherd of the flock of Christ.” 

“ Go in peace,” replied Peter, “ Teacher of the 
Saints and Guide of the Just.” 

They said no more ; but their hearts spoke 
from their eyes, as they separated, Paul, to con- 
tinue his route, Peter, to return toward Rome.* 
As he went, he was greeted with a storm of cries 
and yells by the Jews, the followers of the Magi- 
cian, and the Pagans of all classes. Pointing to 

* This is a most ancient tradition commemorated by an oratory 
and a stone which records the affectionate farewell of the 
Apostles ; and we find nothing historical to contradict it. How 
they could have kept together so far as this, when they should 
naturally have been separated at the Aemilian bridge, we have 
shown by most probable conjectures, backed by those of 
Baronius, ann. 69, No. 9. 


206 Simon Peter and Simon Magus, 

the summit of the Janiculum, they shouted in his 
face : “ See, your cross is already standing there !” 
“ We prepared it !” “ The gallows awaits you for 

glory !” “ Go on, old wizard !” “ Lictors, unbind 

your fasces — handle the rods !” 

Peter did not open his lips ; he was absorbed in 
God and thought of the words of his Divine Master : 
“ Amen, Amen, I say to thee ; when thou wast 
younger, thou didst gird thyself, and didst walk 
where thou wouldst : but when thou shalt be old, 
thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall 
gird thee and lead thee whither thou wouldst not.” 

And he looked up smilingly to heaven, and then 
joyfully saluted the cross on Mount Janiculum.* 


* We place the martyrdom of St. Peter upon the Montorio, 
and not on the Vatican : and since some learned writers differ 
from us in this, we think a word of explanation necessary. The 
Montorio has, in its favor, the common opinion of four or five 
hundred years, an opinion so probable, moreover, that it has 
found powerful advocates, among whom may be mentioned 
Cardinal Baronius, ann. 69, n. 15 et seqq. ; Torrigius, Grott. 

Vatic. 2d Ed. 1639, p. 194; these writers openly defend our 
view, while it is favored by Benedict XIV, and others, who 
either support it or receive it without question. Notwithstand- 
ing all this, we freely confess that the tradition on which alone 
we have relied, grows less positive in proportion as we examine 
it more deeply, and that the monuments, both of the primitive 
and of the middle ages — for we have carefully examined them 
— all point to the Vatican. We also grant that for two 
hundred and fifty years, nearly all scholars have agreed, in 


Last Days of Peter and PauL 207 


assigning the Vatican as the place of execution. We say nearly 
all y for there are few exceptions: one of them is Fr. F. Giovanni 
da Capistrano, whose work we have not been able to find ; an- 
other is Monsignor Pacifici, — Dissert, sul marlirio di S. Pietro 
net Gianicolo, e sulla venuta e morte nello stesso monte di Noe, 
ecc. Roma, 1814, two vols. in one, 12o., — beside several others 
of less note. Even Maflfeo Veggio, — De Rebus antiq. mirabil. S. 
Petri, quoted fully in the Bollandists, June 29th, vol. VII, — 
who died in 1547, and is summoned as the first witness in favor 
of Montorio, to our diligent investigation offers only doubtiul 
testimony. Besides, Bianchini says of him, in his Not. ad 
Anast. Bibliot. ed Migne, t. I, p. 1033 : “ Nemo ex antiquis 
dubitavit, quod sciam, de loco martyrii B. Petri. Consensus 
omnium aetatum docet. in circo Vaticano eum crucii affixum. . . 
Primus omnium , ut arbitror, Maphceus Veggius argutatus est,” 
etc. Of the same opinion as Bianchini, who was a canon of 
St. Mary Major’s, in the middle of the 18th century, we find an 
earlier writer, Bosio, Roma Sotterr. Rome, 1632, 11, 3; also 
Foggini, De Romano Divi Petri Itinere, etc., ad Bened. XIV, 
Florence, 1751, page 398: and a little later Mgr. Borgia 
Vaticana Confessio, etc., Rome, 1776, page 81: with Cuccagni 
Vita di San Pietro, etc., dedic a Pio VI, Rome, 1777, t. Ill, p. 
214; and the learned Canon Cancelieri, De Secretar. Basil. 
Vatic. Rome, 1786, 4-4to., page 944; and, to name living 
authorities, Zanelli, Roma e San Pietro , Rome, 1867, page 30; 
with Bottari, Mamachi, and many others whom we have not 
had leisure to consult personally, but find quoted. Now against 
this array of authorities, of documents and reasoning, we have 
in our favor only the opinion mentioned above ; and yet we 
have chosen to follow this opinion, in our legend, because 
archaeologists not having yet succeeded in fixing the precise 
spot on the Vatican where the crucifixion took place, it has 
seemed to us that to place it one kilometre farther, on the 
strength of a plausible conjecture, cannot be considered a great 
error. 


CHAPTER X. 


THE TRIUMPH OF THE APOSTLES. 


'jr ETER had already passed through the Porta 
X Trigemina and was in sight of the Aemilian 



bridge, his soul full of joy at the thought of 


his approaching sacrifice, when suddenly he was 
snatched from the region of high contemplation by 
a loud uproar. Raising his eyes he saw a crowd of 
soldiers, players and Augustans pouring out of the 
Velabrum into the Ostian road, with loud shouts 
and noisy demonstrations. It was the escort of 
Nero, who was going down to indulge in his usual 
recreation of a sail upon the river amid songs and 
orgies, thus escaping for a while the heated atmos- 
phere of Rome.* Augustus raised his head from 
the cushions of the imperial litter, and seeing the 
bridge thronged with people, inquired of his 
attendants what had brought them there. He was 


20S 


* Suet. Nero. 27 . 


The Triumph of the Apostles . 209 


told that they were taking to the gibbet a Jew from 
the Trastevere. 

“ What Jew ?” asked the emperor. 

“ A fellow named Simon,” answered the officer. 
“ Your majesty may remember that sorcerer who 
was always at war with poor Simon Icarus.” 

“ Oh ! you mean Simon Peter ; I remember, the 
fellow who bewitched our ladies and made them all 
as stubborn and cross-grained as — well ; he is 
the madman who was so frantic about his Christ ; 
very good, let him go and preach to Cerberus ; I 
remember now that I sentenced him the other day.” 
And Augustus sank back languidly upon the 
cushions from which he had raised his head to 
make these inquiries. 

Peter had hardly given a glance to Nero ; as he 
stood in the midst of his escort while they halted to 
let the emperor pass, he was praying in his heart 
for his bereaved flock * “ Lord, save Thy people 
from the Caesars, Thy enemies.” The Archangel, 
St. Michael, answered in his soul : “ Thou art heard. 
The Lord has commanded me to unsheathe the 
flaming sword with which I once rid heaven of its 
rebellious spirits ; the decree is passed, and Nero 
shall not survive this year. His imitators in guilt 
shall share his punishment.” 

The Vicar of Jesus Christ thanking God for this 
14 


210 Simon Peter and Simon Magus. 

assurance of His watchful care over the destinies of 
His Church, crossed the bridge with a light and 
joyful heart. 

It was marvellous to see how, little by little, the 
feelings and the actions of the multitude changed. 
Presently, very few insulted their victim except the 
Simonians. The rest, Jews and Gentiles, when they 
saw the aged prisoner drawing nearer and nearer 
to the place of execution, so serene in countenance, 
so mild and passionless in his actions, so venerable 
and dignified in carriage, felt themselves as if under 
the influence of some hidden power, gradually 
becoming softened and even moved to compas- 
sion. Then in the hearts of the dwellers in the 
Trastevere, arose the memory, still fresh and strong, 
of the wonderful works of Peter, of his sweet words, 
of his affectionate care for the sick and destitute. 

“Poor old man!” sighed many. “What harm 
has he done ? Alas ! What times !” Even the 
soldiers seemed less indifferent and more inclined to 
pity than to harshness. 

But the Apostle noticed none of these things, for 
he was exchanging the last salutations with the 
faithful whom he saw on his way, and giving them 
his parting blessing by raising his eyes to heaven 
and bowing his head towards them. Thus he had 
left his apostolic benediction to the brethren 


The Triumph of the Apostles . 211 

gathered near the Fountain of Oil,* and then 
steadily began to ascend the slope of the Janiculum. 
The enemies of Peter had set up the gibbet on a 
level spot on the summit of the rock, and the 
brutal guards, urged on by the thought of the 
promised reward, thrust the saint rudely toward the 
place. Peter saw the cross and bowed deeply to- 
wards it; then turning to the faithful who were 
pressing closely around him, seemingly forgetful of 
the popular fury, he said to them : “ Brethren, join 
me in blessing the dispensations of the Lord. This 
was revealed and promised to me long ago by our 
Lord. The disciple is not greater than the master, 
nor the servant above his lord. Be not then 
troubled at the thought that I must now put off this 
body which separates me from the Lord. The hour 
of sacrifice has come ; Farewell ! Remember the 
things I have spoken to you. I leave you in the 
keeping of our Lord Jesus Christ.”t 

Having thus spoken, the Apostle advanced towards 

* Now Santa Maria in Trastevere. It seems very probable 
that, from the earliest times, there was here an assembly of 
Christians who met in private dwellings. Their right to these 
houses was disputed some fifty years afterward, but they were 
finally re-established in possession of them by the Emperor 
Alexander Severus, according to Lampridius, in Severo. Not 
far from the Fons Olei must have stood the Vicus Januclensis, 
found in the old topographical sketches of Home. 

f Passion of St. Peter , ubi sup. 


212 Simon Peter and Simon Magus. 

the cross with quickened pace and arms wide 
extended, as one who longed to be in its embrace. 
“ O, Cross !” he exclaimed : “ O, Cross, full of 
hidden mystery! Thou hast joined man to God, 
freeing him from the bondage of the enemy ; thou 
perpetual peacemaker between heaven and earth, 
and dispenser of pardon ; I long for thee ; I burn, I 
am consumed with the desire to possess thee.”* 

The executioners hardly gave him time to finish 
his prayer ; the last words were still upon his lips 
when they tore off his poor tunic and bound him 
to a pillar which was secured in the ground ; in a 
few moments the scourges had reduced his body to 
one gashed and bleeding mass. The Martyr-Apos- 
tle, mindful of the sufferings of his divine Master, 
showed no more sign of pain than if his soul, already 
resting in the bosom of his God, were insensi- 
ble to the sufferings of the body. But when the 
executioner was about to bind his body and his 
arms with the ropes that were to fasten him to the 
cross, Peter opened his lips only to say, with a look 
of entreaty : “ Why need you care if you crucified 
me head downward ?” 

“Very well,” replied the soldier, hiding an 
irresistible feeling of compassion : “ If that seems to 


Passion of St. Peter, ubi sup. 


The Triumph of the Apostles . 2 1 3 

you less painful, let it be as you please.” And 
signing to his attendants to reverse the instrument 
of death, he threw the rope that secured the body 
of the Saint, over the stock and drew him up ; then 
making two turns with the end around the waist, 
he hurriedly nailed his hands to the cross-pieces, 
threw his tools to an attendant, and hastily quitted 
the spot, leaving the crucified to the care of 
the soldiers. As he descended the hill, he mut- 
tered to himself: “ By Jove! it is a pity; he does 
not look like a malefactor. Well, I hope his suffer- 
ings may be short.” 

Meanwhile the faithful present upon the accursed 
mount had experienced, one by one, every torture 
inflicted upon their beloved father, the blows of the 
knotted ropes, the tight pressure of the rough cords, 
the piercing of the hard nails ; and they suffered 
with him in his agony. They understood, which 
the unbelievers could not understand, the meaning 
of that last favor asked of men by Peter, that he 
might hang upon the cross with his head downward. 
One attributed it to his deep humility, which would 
not let him die in precisely the same manner as his 
divine Master; another thought that it came from 
an insatiable desire of suffering ; while many saw in 
it a result of both these motives together.* 


* We have no ancient document in proof of this scourging, 


214 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

While the faithful followers of the Apostle were 
giving vent to their anguish in prayers and tears, 
suddenly the voice of Peter was heard above the 
noise, loud and clear : “ Lord Jesus Christ take pity 
on my children and show something of my happi- 
ness to Thy servants who are grieving for me.” 
The eyes of all were fixed upon Peter more intently 
than ever, and the true believers saw (for God dis- 
played to them the mystery) a choir of heavenly 
spirits in human form hovering over the dying 
Apostle and holding out to him crowns of glory 
and garlands of flowers gathered in the garden of 
heaven. Such was the splendor which shone forth 

not even in the Passio S. Petri ; but we know well that it was 
the custom then in regard to all those who were condemned to 
death. Beside this we have the tradition of the Roman Church 
on this subject ; and the very pillar to which it is piously 
believed that the Saint was fastened during the infliction of this 
punishment is still venerated in the Church of Sta. Maria in 
Traspontina. Again it was by no means uncommon to crucify 
with the head downward, and the most authentic tradition of 
the Apostle’s death confirms this belief; beside, we must accept 
the testimony of the holy Fathers, who assert that it was done 
in the case of St. Peter, and at his own request. Now whether 
he was nailed or only tied to the cross is not very certain ; the 
prevailing custom was to nail criminals ; and this belief we 
receive, as most probable, on the testimony of St. John 
Chrysostom, and of the old Acts of St. Peter, quoted by Surius. 
For the details of crucifixions, the reader is referred to 
Lipsius, De Cruce, where they are minutely stated in three 
books. 


The Triumph of the Apostles . 215 


from their countenances, and, so dazzling was the 
light which surrounded them, that it was almost too 
much for human eyes. While the faithful were 
gazing in speechless rapture on this heavenly vision 
and felt comforted by the triumph of their beloved 
father, a new prodigy was added to that which they 
now beheld ; for suddenly, amid the bright hosts of 
heaven the form of Peter himself seemed to rise up, 
radiant with indescribable splendor, while his divine 
Master appeared at his side, apparently suggesting 
words to the Saint. Then, for the last time, the 
Apostle raised his voice and prayed aloud : “ Eternal 
Shepherd, true Son of God, I recommend to Thee 
the flock Thou hast entrusted to me. Do Thou 
preserve it in union, Thou, Who art the door, and 
the sheep-fold, and the shepherd, and the pasture, 
in time and in eternity. To Thee be glory, with 
the Father and the Holy Ghost, now and forever.” 

The faithful, out of themselves with rapture, 
uttered a fervent “Amen !” 

Peter was no more.* The sun was setting ; the 
soldiers began to withdraw ; the heathens were 
struck with astonishment. The Christians, re- 
assured and emboldened, crowded around the cross 

* That the death of St. Peter was preceded by this prodigy 
and by such a prayer is testified by the Passio ; and we know 
no ancient testimony or modern argument that can invalidate it. 


2i 6 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 


praising God. The holy matrons, Anastasia and 
Basilissa spread beneath the instrument of death a 
cloth of precious material, while Marcellus and the 
other priests began, with the greatest reverence, to 
remove the holy remains. Claudia Sabinilla 
gathered up with a sponge the blood which had 
coagulated on the ground, while her pious com- 
panions scraped off every trace of it from the earth 
and the wood. At length, the precious remains 
were deposited in the coffin kept in readiness in a 
neighboring house — for the prudent “ handmaids of 
the Martyrs” had foreseen everything — and after 
reverently kissing the sacred relics, they left the hill. 
At a sign from Linus the brethren went off in 
different directions ; the unbelieving crowd was 
already out of sight. 

Thus amid silence and the falling darkness, while 
pagan Rome was reveling amid orgies and noisy 
banquets; the faithful followers of Peter, bearing 
the sacred burden upon their shoulders, passed out 
of the gate at the foot of the Janiculum.* Then 
threading the cross-roads in the valley, they bore 
him, as they would have carried any ordinary 
corpse, to the usual abiding place on the Vatican. 


* The Porta Janiculensis or Aurelian, is now known as the 
Porta di San Pancrazio. 


The Triumph of the Apostles . 217 

The hiding place sanctified by the presence of the 
first Vicar of Jesus Christ, was on the western slope 
of a hill known as Mons Aureus, rising at the foot 
of the Vatican mount, which almost surrounded it 
with its semi-circular curve. This little hill, which 
has since been levelled, became the foundation of 
the noblest monument ever reared by human 
hands ; but in the days of Nero it bore upon its 
summit a temple of Apollo, while the northern slope 
was graced by a pleasure-palace which served at 
times as a Naumachia. At the foot of the hill was 
the famous Circus of Nero, surrounded by the 
rising borders of the valley, except where the main 
entrance opened upon the gardens of Agrippina 
now inherited by Nero. These gardens embraced 
a rich combination of luxurant meads, of elegant 
walks, gardens and groves, extending to the bank 
of the Tiber, where it was spanned by the bridge of 
Caligula. The pleasure-loving Romans who fre- 
quented the Park and the Circus of Nero could not 
foresee that the then insignificant resort of the 
hated Christians, hidden behind the stately pile 
raised by imperial magnificence, was one day to 
outshine the palaces of Augustus and the memories 
of Romulus on the Palatine or the Capitol. Indeed 
they did not even know its existence, for to the 
casual observer nothing was to be seen but a com- 


218 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

mon cottage not different from any of those by 
which it was surrounded, though near it was an 
enclosure for private burial extending along the hill 
to the foot of the temple of Apollo. Much less 
could they know of the crypts dug out in the 
bowels of the earth as a resting place for the de- 
parted brethren. Such was the primitive Church 
of the Vatican where Peter used to catechize the 
new converts, to baptize the neophytes, to confirm 
the disciples and to ordain the bishops for the new 
Christian communities.* 


* It would not be easy to point out the precise spot on the 
Vatican mount where the Koman faithful were wont to meet; 
for the great extent of the two basilicas which succeeded each 
other there have completely changed the topographical condi- 
tions of the place. Still we may with strong grounds of proba- 
bility place it on the spot at present crowned by the apsis of St. 
Peter’s ; this seems to agree best with all the historical docu- 
ments on the subject. The sepulchre of St. Peter was never 
removed, or at least very little ; so that the temple of Apollo 
must have stood on the spot now occupied by the Confession of 
St. Peter, as we learn that the Apostle was buried very near to 
that shrine. The Vatican Cemetery, within the limits of which 
this sepulchre was situated, must have been very near by, as 
also the house in which the Christians met together. It should 
be borne in mind that, in the time of Nero, a piece of ground 
occupied by a sepulchral monument was always, by law, held to 
be inviolable. But these places might very well serve for 
burial places and, at the same time, answer the purposes of a 
Church and a baptistery, (as was the case in other ancient 
cemeteries of which we read, ubi Petrus baptizabat ;) for it was 
easy to build a house on the ground which would naturally 


The Triumph of the Apostles. 219 

Already the matrons appointed to render the 


pass for the dwelling of the keeper of the place, as was usual in 
those days. What we know certainly is that, immediately 
after this, we find that the faithful used to meet in the Church 
on the Vatican, and that the Popes were buried there. ISIow 
as no such tract of ground could have been taken on the eastern 
slope of the hill, which was occupied by the imperial gardens, 
nor on the southern base, which was certainly taken up by the 
Circus, nor yet on the northern side, where rose the palace of 
Nero, it seems plain enough that the outer limit of the ceme- 
tery together with the house used for the Christian assemblies, 
must have been on the western brow, that is towards the apsis 
of the Basilica, and over the present Grotte Vaticane. By 
adopting this topography it can be shown ultimately that St. 
Peter was buried on the Mons Aureus (as is repeatedly asserted 
by Anastasius Biblioth ,) which may also be gathered from the 
expression of Prudentius: “Tumulum sub Monte Vaticano.” 
Besides, it is well known that the spot on which the Basilica 
now stands was very lofty, as may be seen by what remains of 
the stairs leading up to it. It is evident that he was buried 
juxla palatium Neronianum in Vaticano , or in Vaticano 
palatio Neronis, as is variously stated by Anastasius, since that 
palace occupied the space embraced by the western wing of the 
Basilica where it is placed even by Canina bn the authority of 
ancient ruins. We can see how (on the hypothesis of the cru- 
cifix on the Vatican,) St. Peter came ad locum qui appellatur 
Naumachia, juxta obeliscum Neronis, in monte, as we read in 
a very old work on the Passion of St. Peter; because the Nau- 
machia was very near the palace of Nero, as Concellieri proves 
at length: ( De Secretar. Basil. Vat. pp. 933-951,) and after- 
wards gave its name to the western portion of the V atican vale 
as far as the present site of the Church of San Pellegrino, near 
the Porta Angelica, and which was still, in the middle ages, 
called San Pellegrino in Naumachia. We can also verify the 
“ sepultus est via Aurelia” of Anastasius; because, whether 
that street existed in the time of Nero, or not, certainly when 


220 Simon Peter and Simon Magus. 


last offices to the sacred remains of Peter, were 
gathered together, bringing with them rich ointments, 
spices and foreign compounds for this purpose. 
But the priest Marcellus, equally fervent and 
practical, wished to have a share in the duty, which 
he discharged with the assistance of Anastasia and 
Basilissa. They first washed the holy relics with 

it was first made it ran along the side of the famous Circus of 
Nero, at the foot of the Mons Aureus, not far from the present 
sacristy of St. Peter's. There is proof, too, of the “juxta viam 
triumphalem,” of St. Jerome ; for, as we understand it, that 
street, at least in the time of St. Jerome, ran through the main 
cross walk of the Square before St. Peter’s. In fine we can 
even explain the “ sepultus est in templo Apollinis for, since 
Nero’s gardens were intersected by the Piazza di San Pietro, ^ 
Borgo Nuovo and Borgo Yecchio, as the most learned readily 
admit, they could very well have been bounded westward by the 
Circus ( clausum valle Vaticana spatium, according to Tacitus, 
Ann. XIV, 14) that is, hemmed in between the Vatican mount 
and the base of the Aureus ; then, as Tacitus seems to imply, by 
the Mons Aureus itself, on which was the shrine of Apollo 
before which Nero used to sing; then by the other buildings 
which crowned the ascent, viz : the Palatium and the Nauma- 
chia. On the other side of the hill, there could well be private 
property, in which might be a space set apart for a cemetery 
extending even close to the temple; a portion of this would 
form the Vatican cemetery in one of the crypts of which, at 
the foot of the temple of Apollo, the remains of the Apostle 
might have been deposited, without even entering the gardens 
of Caesar. On this spot, afterwards, Anacletus raised a me- 
morial of St. Peter, (An ast. Biblio. Anacl.) which was cele- 
brated in the primitive times. Constantine, at a later period, 
“fecit Basilicam beato Petro Apostolo in templo Apollinis ” 
(Id. Sylvester ,) that is upon the ruins of the temple of Apollo. 


The Triumph of the Apostles . 


221 


fresh milk and rich wine, after which they carefully 
embalmed and anointed the body with precious 
ointments. They had prepared a new sarcophagus 
filled with the best honey of Attica, in which they 
placed the body, after the manner of burying the 
kings of the East ;* and yet the disciples could not 
reconcile themselves to the thought of covering 
forever that venerated countenance until the other 
brethren had enjoyed a last look at it, especially 
those faithful ones who had followed Paul to do the 
same offices for him. Besides, the bishop Linus had 
not yet come ; for as soon as he had received the 
last sigh of his dying master, he hastened away to 


* There is no doubt that the body of St. Peter was preserved 
entire. As to the manner of preserving it, we naay believe that, 
“ Marcellus .... lavit illud lacte et vino optimo .... Melle 
attico novum replevit sarcophagum et in eo corpus aromatibus 
perlitum collocavit,” as we read in the old Passio. This 
account is probable enough, since it was an Eastern custom to 
preserve the bodies of illustrious men by embalming them in 
gums, wax or some like substance. That it was a custom 
especially among the Hebrews, we know from passages in both 
the Old and the New Testament. The ancient Fathers, and 
Tertullian in particular, testify that it was a consecrated 
practice among the primitive Christians. It seems that in the 
time of St. Peter, the usage had passed even to the pagan 
Romans, for Tacitus observes, in speaking of Poppasa, the wife 
of Nero : “ Corpus non igni abolitum, ut Romanus mos, sed 
regum externorum consuetudine, differtum odoribus conditur." 
Ann. XVI, 6. 


222 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

the place where the other Apostle was to be 
executed. 

Meanwhile, under cover of the night, which had 
already well set in, the sisters were coming together 
to pay a last tearful tribute to their common father ; 
among these of course were found Praxedes and Pu- 
dentiana, who had been summoned by their mother. 
They were gathered about the apartment, some 
apart in silence, some standing with clasped hands, 
some kneeling beside the bier, all engaged in prayer 
and awaiting the sacred banquet which was to be 
celebrated that night. Suddenly Plautilla entered 
the room accompanied by Thecla. All at once rose 
and gathering around these witnesses of the 
martyrdom of Paul, asked for the particulars of the 
event. Plautilla, overcome by fatigue, by watching 
and by grief, could only reply : 

“ I cannot speak of it. Here is the beloved 
daughter of Paul, let her speak, I am too faint.” 

But Thecla had already passed along, and 
prostrate beside the bier, with her veil closely drawn 
over her face, she was already absorbed in prayer. 
Such was the veneration in which she was 
universally held, that no one ventured to recall her 
from her devotions. At last, Pudentiana, at a sign 
from her mother, gathered sufficient resolution to 
approach the kneeling saint, and raising a corner of 


The Triumph of the Apostles . 223 


the veil, with that affectionate familiarity which their 
relations warranted, she whispered in her ear : 
“ Handmaid of the Lord, forgive me ; the brethren 
are eager to hear what Paul said to you in his last 
hour.” 

At the name of her beloved teacher, the aged 
virgin seemed to be inspired with new life ; rising 
up she turned toward the assembled faithful, and 
exclaimed with kindling eye : “ Paul ! Paul ! Do 
you not see him ! I see him still as he passes along 
the Ostian road between his executioners. I 
recognize him and hasten toward him. Lucina (the 
Christian name of Pomponia Graecina) is with me 
and holds my hand. Paul looks upon us — oh ! a 
look of Paul ! what high mysteries are taught by a 
single glance of the great Paul ! Richly am I re- 
paid for all the troubles of my long journey from 
the East, since it has made me sharer in such a 
favor ! But now he no longer looks at us — he is 
already under the rods; he is but one mass of 
bruises. He rises, turns toward the East and 
stretches forth his hands. Do you not hear his 
prayer, in his native Hebrew ? Do not your hearts 
feel that he is uttering his last farewell to the 
brethren ? He covers his face with the white veil 
of our sister and bows his neck to the axe ; — milk 
and blood flow from the wound. See ! the sacred 


224 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

head has thrice rebounded from the ungrateful 
earth, uttering the name of Jesus ! and three 
fountains spring up at the touch ! The legionaries 
confess Christ — to-morrow they will come to ask 
for baptism at these very fountains ! What 
splendor ! The heavens are opened ! the spirit of 
Paul is already far from earth, and enters the realms 
of eternal light ! Who can look upon his glory ? 
The angels of God are around him — Christ has 
crowned him ! O, Paul, my master, take soon to 
thyself thy poor exiled handmaid ; thou didst teach 
me the faith and virginity of Christ; I am thy 
daughter — Paul, my father, hear me, hear me, 
Paul !” And at these words tears gushed from her 
eyes, she once more drew the veil over her face, 
and prostrated herself at the foot of the coffin ; no 
one had the heart to disturb her again. 

Plautilla was now able to add some particulars to 
the account given by Thecla. Pomponia Graecina, 
Thecla and some of the other sisters had awaited 
the Apostles at Pomponia’s estate, which happened 
to border on the Ostian road, at the point known as 
the Aquae Salviae. They thought that both the 
prisoners would be put to death at that place ; but 
God granted them to witness the martyrdom of Paul 
only, as Thecla had already said. That, in fine, 
Luke, Titus, and Timothy had brought the sacred 


The Triumph of the Apostles. 225 

body to the farm of Pomponia, where they had 
buried it.* 

“ But who told you ?” asked one of the brethren, 
“ that we had chosen the Vatican cemetery for 
Peter ?” 

“ We took it for granted,” answered Plautilla. 
“And besides,” she continued, lowering her voice 
and looking towards Thecla, “ she was there and 
saw everything in spirit ; she saw them both go out 
of the Porta Trigemina, and then continued to tell 
us what happened to them afterwards. . She saw 
them embrace and separate ; she saw the brethren 


* The body of St. Paul still lies in this place, once the farm 
of Lucina, or Pomponia Graecina, but now the site of the 
celebrated Basilica of St. Paul. The prodigy of the milk and 
blood as well as of the three fountains, we give on the authority 
of the early Fathers and of the Passion of St. Paul. Beside 
these, we have also the most ancient Koman traditions on the 
subject and the very ancient Church of the Three Fountains 
built on the spot, and inclosing the three miraculous fountains 
still fresh. A small pillar is also preserved here, which is 
supposed to have served as the block ; it was sprinkled with 
blood or was made venerable by some other connection with 
the martyrdom of Paul. Another one is venerated in the 
Church of Santa Maria in Traspontina, near St. Peter’s, with 
the old tradition that Paul was tied to it whilst being scourged. 
The Christian tradition is not invalidated by an appeal to the 
Homan law, for in a case of crime against religion, scourging 
might be inflicted even without recourse to the lawless cruelty 
of Nero. Yid. Baronius, Ann. 69, No. 8; and Lipsius, 
de Oruce, I, 13. 

15 


226 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

divide into two parties — in a word, she saw all. 
During the execution of Paul she did not shed a 
tear, but looked upon it like one in extacy, though 
she groaned and seemed to burn interiorly like wax 
in the fire. Before his body was inclosed in the 
sarcophagus, she took one of his hands and laid it 
upon her head, saying : ‘ This hand baptized me, 
and pointed out to me the path, by virginity and 
martyrdom, to heaven she kissed it and then, for 
the first time, wept. After a long pause, during 
which she had given free course to her grief, she 
suddenly exclaimed: ‘Peter has just departed to 
heaven ; Paul comes to meet him,’ and in a few 
moment's, again : ‘ The brethren are carrying him to 
the Vatican.’ Then we took measures for the burial 
and started to come here.” 

“ But did you not bring any memorial of him ?” 
interrupted Pudentiana with youthful earnestness. 

“ What could we take ?” asked Plautilla. 

“ Pomponia Grascina had every relic of the 
martyrdom placed in the sarcophagus. She has 
promised to make every effort to secure also the 
pillar to which he was bound.” 

“And the veil which you gave him ?” 

“How did you know anything about that?” 
asked the holy matron with some surprise. 

“ I heard it from the brethren who followed 


The Triumph of the Apostles . 227 

Peter when the Apostles separated on the Ostian 
road.” 

The good Plautilla, seeing herself thus discovered, 
confessed with much modest embarrassment that 
she had received it back, according to the Apostle’s 
promise. Here she was so closely pressed that she 
was at last obliged to tell in detail, how, when the 
executioners looked for it on the head of the 
martyr, it was hidden from their sight ; and that, as 
she was returning to the city, the blessed Apostle 
had appeared to her, resplendent with glory, at the 
very spot where she had despoiled herself of the 
veil for him and restored it, all stained with fresh 
blood. 

“And will you not let us look upon it?” asked 
Pudentiana ; “ let us kiss the venerable blood of 
Paul ?” 

“ Yes, see it and offer it to God,” said Theda, 
who had been roused by the expression: “the 
blood of Paul.” 

Plautilla was not slow to satisfy this pious eager- 
ness ; nay, rather seeing the desire of the brethren 
to enjoy so precious a treasure : “ Brethren,” she 
said, “ Paul has given it to the most unworthy of 
his handmaids ; and I, from this moment, give it to 
the Church. To-morrow I shall place it in the 


228 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

hands of Sister Lucina that she may have it put in 
the tomb.”* 


* In the time of St. Gregory the Great, there was still pre- 
served in the tomb of St. Paul a handkerchief which Baronius 
believed to be the identical veil of St. Plautilla, mentioned in 
the Passio Sti. Pauli, with the particulars we have given. And 
we may easily believe that it is preserved there to this day, 
since we know nothing of its removal. It is certain that when, 
once, it was requested by the empress, in order to have it re- 
moved to a Basilica in Constantinople, the Pope replied that it 
could not be done because it was inclosed within the sacred 
monument, upon which no one would now dare to lay a violent 
hand. Witness the many punishments inflicted upon those who 
attempted it. Yid. more at length, St. Gregory, the Great, 
Ejpist. lib. Ill, Ep. 33, Ed. Migne t. Ill, p. 700. 



CHAPTER XI. 

THE GLORIOUS SEPULCHRE. 

f UCH were the consolations granted to the piety 
of the Saints of Rome, who had met to 
celebrate the triumphant obsequies of the 
Apostle Peter ; and indeed so great was the 
attendance of the faithful, that the then narrow 
inclosure of the Vatican Church was too small to 
hold them. The Christians, therefore, retired into 
the crypts, and having conveyed the sacred body 
into the last cell, under the very foundation of the 
temple of Apollo, they there spent the hours in holy 
watching. The ancients, with the bishops Cletus 
and Clement and the priests, were in the hall where 
the sacred assemblies were usually held, awaiting 
the arrival of Linus, who, meanwhile, had been 
engaged at the house of Pomponia Graecina, in 
attending to the venerated relics of Paul. At last, 
when all had been duly arranged, he left them in 

229 


230 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

the care of the pious matron, then set out with Luke 
the evangelist, and the two bishops, Titus and 
Timothy. It was past midnight when he reached 
the Vatican cemetery. 

At his entrance the clergy received him with 
sincere demonstrations of unusual reverence. The 
elders and the priests were the first to throw them- 
selves at his feet, and to hail him, with one voice, as 
their father and their pastor. Clement and Cletus, 
already Peter’s vicars in Rome, declared “ that they 
would not allow the expressed wish of the Blessed 
Apostle Peter, who had named Linus as his 
successor, to be subjected to any examination. The 
fact of the appointment was well known, the Church 
of Rome had received it with joy ; so that he might 
certainly consider himself established in the dignity 
of the Vicar of Jesus Christ.” 

“ And the body of the blessed Peter ?” interrupted 
Linus, whose heart and mind were full of this care. 

“ It has been attended to, and the brethren are 
already assembled to celebrate the last rites ; but 
you should preside on the occasion.” 

Linus could not resist the manifest designs of 
God upon him, but with a deep sigh he exclaimed : 
“ O, Peter ; O, my beloved father, do thou give 
some relief to my sorrow ! Help, guide and 
support me !” And, as if overwhelmed by the 


The Glorious Sepulchre. 


231 


immense charge which had just been laid upon him, 
he sank almost powerless upon a seat by his side. 
Cletus and Clement soon restored him by a few 
words of well-timed comfort; they then led him 
into the passage of the sepulchral vaults, to the 
place where lay the sacred relics of the mar- 
tyred apostle. The brethren hastened forward 
to offer their homage to the new pastor, who after a 
long and fervent prayer at the side of the bier, sat 
down upon a stool and raising his hand blessed the 
assembled faithful.* 

The dark and silent hour of night, the place of 
their meeting in the bowels of the earth, the 
numerous attendance of the faithful, the events of 
the preceding day, the threatening appearance of 
the persecution just renewed, the revered body of 
the first Vicar of Jesus Christ lying before them, 
and surrounded by the aureola foretold to him by 
the Saviour, all helped to make that last solemnity 
more sublime, because of its very secrecy. But the 
faithful, standing around the damp walls of the 
crypt, were eagerly awaiting the first words of the 
new Vicar of Jesus Christ. Linus remained silent, 
until Clement, who stood at his side, hearing the 

* “ Linus post martyrium beati Petri eligitur successor die 
proxima, 30 Junii,” says the learned Bianchini in his 
prolegomena ad An AST. Bibl. ed. Migne, t. I, p. 472. 


I 


232 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

slight manifestation of wonder which escaped some 
of the Christians at this prolonged silence, ventured 
to whisper to him that the brethren were anxious to 
hear a word of comfort from his lips. Linus started 
at the sound of these words as one suddenly- 
awakened from a deep sleep; then rising up, he 
stretched forth his hand, and opened his inspired 
lips : 

“Who is like to Peter? Why, O, Apostle of 
Jesus Christ, why dost thou reveal thy glory to the 
least of thy disciples ? Why dost thou thus weigh 
me down, adding vision to vision, wonder to wonder, 
mystery to mystery ? Why impose upon my weak 
lips the task of telling what thought of man has 
never yet conceived ? Brethren, I tremble and am 
confounded ; for to-day, while our father hung upon 
the cross, as the sun sank behind the Vatican mount, 
I saw the shadow of the hill falling upon the city 
below — as the shadow crept along I saw one of the 
cherubim writing on its further edge : ‘ So far the 
kingdom of Peter.’ Then the shadow darkened the 
Capitol, then the Palatine, and so passed away in 
the far east ; and when Peter was breathing his last 
sigh, lo ! the shadowy limit of his kingdom came 
up from the west and returned to the Vatican. 
The whole earth is given to him for his inheritance. 
His realm shall number its years by new provinces 


The Glorious Sepulchre . 


233 


added to the empire, and if any new lands spring up 
in the western seas they shall be for Peter. His 
shall be a kingdom like unto the kingdom of God, 
except that it shall have two boundaries, the world 
and time ; nay, it shall even overstep these limits : 
for the kingdom of Peter has promises of eternity. 

“ The narrow tomb which is soon to receive the 
mortal remains of Peter shall be the palace and the 
throne of his immortal soul. I seemed, but a 
moment ago, to see him rise up, look around with 
threatening brow — and before his frown the temple 
of Apollo, the Palace and the Circus seemed to fall 
to the ground : then he stretched forth his hand 
even to the person of the imperial Caesar, snatched 
the diadem from his brow and cast it into the mire. 
Other Caesars gathered it up and set it upon their 
own brows, until Peter, seeing their hands red with 
Christian blood, struck them down with a single 
glance. At last, another Caesar rose up, wiser than 
his predecessors ; he bent the knee in reverence to 
the tomb of Peter, and traced around it the limits 
of a temple of the true God. The temple rose, 
stood for a thousand years, then, as it seemed too 
small, the nations of the earth reared it anew. The 
sun, in his daily course, lights no more splendid 
pile. O, Sepulchre of Peter ! thy shadow shall be 


234 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

as the shadow of a mountain when the royal palaces 
of the Caesars cannot overshadow a little flower ! 

“I saw, too, the Rome of Romulus, of Augustus 
and of Nero, falling away piecemeal around the 
tomb of Peter, and upon the ruins rose new Rome, 
Her circuses, her theatres and her shrines lay 
broken in the dust — their columns shall support 
Christian temples. The very Capitol shall shake 
off the image of impure Jove ; upon its trophies 
shall rise a nobler trophy, the cross of Christ ; and 
in the gardens of Agrippina and of Poppaea, the 
doves that sighed for the love of Jesus shall build 
their nests. And when fire and steel shall have 
thoroughly purged the dross from the rebellious 
city, there shall remain only the city of Peter, and 
he shall, at the appointed time, bestow upon her the 
royal purple with the priestly stole. 

“ O, Rome of Peter ! O, Metropolis of all faithful 
nations ! The pilgrim who shall hereafter enter thy 
gates, shall no longer hear the brazen sounds call- 
ing to the sensual pleasures of the baths, nor the 
noisy pomp of the Caesars ; but his ear shall be 
saluted by consecrated sounds summoning to prayer 
and sacred psalmody in holy places ; he shall hear 
the songs of the virgins whose life is given to the 
praise of their heavenly Spouse. Wherever he 
casts his eyes, he shall see either the altar of the 


The Glorious Sepulchre . 235 

Lord, or the shrine wherein rest the bones of the 
saints, or the home of prayer, or the nursery of 
virtue, or the sanctuary of true science, or the home 
of the orphan, or the asylum of the virgin, or the 
refuge of the poor and the sick; and the pilgrim 
as he pronounces the words of the act of faith, shall 
feel a kindly breeze fanning his face as it gently 
whispers : * Thou art in thy native land.’ He will 
look for some traces of Peter, and he will find that 
there is not a vestige of the Apostle which is not 
marked by a monument, brilliant with gold and 
precious stones, an object of veneration of all ages. 
All Rome shall be a temple to Peter ! 

“ Even here, here on this very hill, over this tomb 
shall stand the oracle of God ; here, near these 
sacred remains shall rise the firm column of truth, 
the light of the world, the seat of an empire with- 
out limits. Here, where the splendid gardens of 
the Caesars spread in proud luxuriance their rich 
fragrance around, though stained with our blood, 
here, in the days of God’s mercy to men, the multi- 
tudes gathered together from the four winds of 
heaven to ask the blessings of Peter’s successor, 
shall bow their foreheads to the earth ; and kings 
shall be mingled with the throng. The voice of 
Peter, living in his successors, shall resound without 
limits of earth or sea, to the uttermost regions 


236 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

under the sun ; and he whom the heir of Peter shall 
bless, he shall be blessed ; and he who rejects this 
blessing shall find no other; the nation that falls 
under his ban shall be dead in the spirit, and the 
ruler of that people shall feel the crown tottering 
upon his brow, his sceptre shall become a reed, and 
his throne shall rock as a frail skiff tossed at the 
sport of the winds. 

“ In the course of ages one shall sit upon this 
chair who shall bear the name of Piety. Toward 
him shall turn the hopes and affections of all the 
just; and yet he must see the wicked rend, before 
his eyes, the precious robe of Peter, and the princes, 
rebelling against their common Father, sell or 
barter the fragments ; a shame and a disgrace to the 
nations regenerated by baptism! But the pious 
victim, with eyes and hands upraised to heaven, 
calls upon new saints of God to help suffering 
Christianity, and he has already placed upon the 
brow of the great Mother the diadem of her crown- 
ing honor. He reminds the rulers of the divine 
rod, he recalls the wandering to the paths of justice, 
and lashes error with the power of the living voice 
of Peter. s 

“ But lo ! here where I stand and speak to you — 
here is reared the throne of that pious pastor. It is 
this very day renewed after a lapse of eighteen 


The Glorious Sepulchre . 


237 


centuries. Eighteen centuries shall roll over this 
tomb only to renew its glory. . . . We now bathe 
it with our tears, they surround it with joy. A 
hundred venerable senators, with hundreds and 
hundreds of the angels of the Churches, from the 
east and west, from the north and south, move 
around the tomb of Peter to the sound of solemn 
chants; and their holy Chief intones the words: 
‘ Believe with me,’ and they answer: ‘Amen/ 
‘Hope with me/ and they say: ‘Amen/ ‘Love 
with me/ and once more they chant : ‘ Amen.’ O 
joyful ! O bright ! O glorious day ! on which I 
shall see them gathered around this tomb, a uni- 
versal gathering of the teaching Church ! now 
thousands and thousands of levites from their choir, 
and with them are joined the voices of nations of a 
hundred different tongues, but of one heart. They 
have come, they have hastened, the devoted sons of 
Peter, a people infinite in number. The rich bring 
to the tomb offerings of gold ; the poor offer the 
half of their substance; the widow gives her 
nuptial-ring, and the young maiden her richest 
ornaments. And you brave youth of Rome and 
Italy; you valiant sons of Gaul, of Belgium, of 
Batavia and of Spain, what tribute do you bring to 
the tomb of Peter? Yes, they come! Behold, I 
see them gird on the sword for Peter’s cause, and 


238 Simon Peter and Simon Magus . 

for him dare the dangers of war. To that holy war 
the widow sends her only son ; the younger bride 
her youthful spouse ! What thought thus gives 
them strength ? — Faith and love. What can they 
hope ? — To die for Peter. Weep not for the brave 
who shall die for Peter on the field or on the 
mountain-side;, they are martyrs of the Christian 
cause. Peter opens to them the bright path to 
heavenly glory, and they shall reign with Christ. 
O, Peter, powerful in heaven and on earth ! Jesus 
Christ has clothed thee with the character of His 
priesthood and power ; thou livest and reignest in 
thy successors, through the changes of earthly 
things and the splendors of the saints.” .... 

Here Linus, who had uttered these inspired words 
with his eyes turned toward heaven, suddenly 
ceased. The faithful gave glory to God and to the 
Apostle, first Vicar of Jesus Christ, and then 
followed the sacred liturgy. At early dawn they 
came forth from the little Church of the Vatican, 
embracing one another in the fervor of their holy 
joy. Thecla said to the youthful Pudentiana, as 
she pressed the little maiden to her bosom : “ Many 
thanks for having called me in time to witness these 
great wonders of the Lord.” 

“ It was not I who summoned you, sister,” re- 


The Glorious Sepulchre . 239 

plied Pudentiana, “ but Peter and Paul ; may God 
glorify them forever.” 

Among the faithful were heard the expressions : 
“ What a splendid prophecy !” “ Who can realize 

it !” “ Blessed are they who shall see it fulfilled !” 














































/ 


















CATHOLIC BOOKS 

PUBLISHED BY 

PETER F. CUNNINGHAM, 

210 South Third Street, Philadelphia • 



ailiolic Boctrine as 5>efined by tlie Council 
of Trent : 


Th 


Expounded in a series of Conferences delivered in Geneva Bv 
ltev. A. Nampon. S. J , the most complete work on Catholic Doc- 

Tti 1 » o ;) | 1 1 S i 1 f n £ lish Language; approved bv the 
Bishop of 1 hiladelphia, the Arch-bishops of Baltimore, New'York 
and Cincinnati. 1 vol. octavo, of 7:0 pages, splendidly bound in 
clotn 50 


r hi 


c Celebrated Sanctuaries of the Ma- 
donna. 

By Rev. J. Spencer Northcoate, D.D. Published with the approbation of the 
Right Rev. Jc.rn.es Frederick Wood, Bishop of Philadelphia. 1 vol., 12mo. 

Price — Cloth, extra beveled .. |1 60 

Cloth, gilt edge 2 00 

lie Year of Mary; or, Tflic True Servant of 
tbe Blessed Virgin. 


Translated from the French of Rev. M. D’Arville, Apostolic Prothonotary, 
and published with the approbation of the Right Rev. Bishop of Phila- 
delphia, the Most Rev. Archbishop of Baltimore, and the Most Rev. Arch- 
bishop of New York. 1 neat 12mo volume. 


Price — In cloth $1.50 

In gilt edges 2.00 


This is a delightful book; brimful of sweet flowers; a lovely garland in 
honor of Mary our Mother and powerful intercessor before the throne of her 
Son. 

Well has the Magnificat said, “all generations shall call me blessed;” all 
times, and in all lands, whereyer the symbol, upon which her Divine Son 
lansomed a wicked and undeserving world with his excruciating sufferings and 
death, has a votary, her name, spotless and beautiful, shall he pronounced with 
reverence, and her protection implored. 

The tome before us is a collection of the honors paid to Mary by the great 
and good of all lands; by those who, with the diadem of earthly grandeur 
adorning their brows, and vexed political commonwealths to guard and pacify, 
found time to honor the daughter of St. Anne, the beloved Mother of our Lord 
and Saviour. 

Buy the hook. Read one or two pages. We promise a feast, a desire to read 
the whole, a determination to do so . — Cathilic Telegraph. 

This work is divided into seventy-two Exercises, corresponding with th# 
number of > 6ars which the Blesst i Virgin passoi on earth, with a consecratioa 

( 3 ) 


4 


Published by Peter F, Cunningham, 

to Mary of the twelve months of the year, in reference to her virtues ; also a 
method of using certain of the Exercises by a way of devotion for the “Month 
of Mary,” a Novena in honor of the Immaculate Conception, and other matters 
both interesting and advantageous to the true servant of Mary, and those whc 
would become «. 

“ Baltimore, April 6, 1865. 

“We willingly unite with the Ordinary of Philadelphia and the Metropolitan 
of New York in approving ‘The Year of Mary,’ republished by Peter F. Cun- 
ningham, of Philadelphia. 

“M. J. SPALDING, 

“ Archbishop of Baltimore 

A work presented to the Catholics with such recommendations does not need 
any word of encouragement from us. — Pilot. 

This work meets a want long ungratified. The devotional Exercises which 
make up the hook are ingeniously arranged in reference, 1st, to each year of the 
Blessed Virgin’s long residence on earth ; 2d, to every Sunday and festival 
throughout the year. The Exercises ai’e therefore seventy-two in number, cor- 
responding to the generally received belief of the duration of her terrestrial life. 

The First Exercise is thus appropriated to the Immaculate Conception, and 
may be used both for the 8th of December and for the first day of the year. 
The seventy-second celebrates the Assumption, and maybe profitably read on 
the 15th of August, and on the last day of the year. 

Each Instruction is prefaced by a text from holy writ, and followed by an 
example, a historical fact, a practice and a prayer. 

The Approbations are: 

1st. By the Roman Theological Censor. 

2d. By a favorable letter from his Holiness Gregory XVI. 

3d. By the recommendatory signatures of the Archbishops of Baltimore and 
New York, and the Bishop of Philadelphia. 

This Devotional is a deeply interesting and practical manual, and Mrs. Sadlier, 
who has very skilfully reduced the originally free translation into graceful con- 
formity to the original, has rendered the Christian public a most essential ser- 
vice. We wish it the widest circulation. — N. Y. Tablet. 

“The Year of Mary” is one of the most beautiful tributes to the Mother of 
God that a Catholic family could desire to have. We are free, however, to 
confess our partiality in noticing any book that treats of the pre-eminent glory 
of her whom God exalted above all created beings. 

But, independently of this consideration, the present volume can be recom- 
mended on its own special merits. Besides being replete with spiritual instruc- 
tion, it presents a detailed account of the life of the Blessed Virgin from the 
Conception to the Assumption, and views her under every possible aspect, both 
as regards herself and her relations with man. It lays down the rules by 
which we are to bo guided in our practical devotions towards her ; displays its 
genuine characteristics, and indicates the sublime sentiments by which we 
ought to be actuated when we pay her our homage, or invoke her assistance. 

“The Year of Mary” contains seventy-two Exercises, in accordance with the 
received opinion of the Church that the Blessed Virgin lived that number of 
years on earth. In these instructions, the reader shall learn her life, her pre- 
rogatives, her glory in Heaven, and her boundless goodness to mankind. Wo 
would like to see this book in every Catholic family in the country. It is impos- 
sible for us to honor the Mother of God sufficiently well. But in reading this 
book, or any like it, we must ever bear in mind that acts, not mere professions 
of piety, should be the distinctive marks of “the true sei-vant of the Blessed 
Virgin,” and that she is really hocoi’ed, only in so far as we imitate her virtues 
for the sake of Him through whom alone we can hope for eternal life. 

The name of Mrs. Sadlier is familiar to the public ; her talents as au authoress 
are too well known to need auy eulpgy here ; she is an accomplished lady, and 
has faithful, y done her paid. As to the publisher, Mr. Cunningham, we say, 
without flattery, that he has done a good work in presenting this excellent 
book to his fellow-Catholics, and with all our heart we wish him the fallest 
measure of success to which this noble enterprise entitles him. — The Monthly. 


210 South Third Street, Philadelphia, 5 


.MeditaUoos of SI. Ignatius; or, “TEie Splri- 
tual Exercises ’ 5 expounded, 

'• By Father Siniscalchi, of the Society of Jesus. 

Published -with the approbation of the Right Rev. Bis vojj of Philadelphia. 

1 vol. 12mo. 

Price— Neatly bound in cloth, gilt hack $1.50 

The fame of the great founder of the Society of Jesus, would itself insure the 
character of the above book of meditations, as one of the most meritorious kind. 
But the greater part of Catholics of all nations have been made familiar with 
the nature, object, and efficiency of these meditations in the Spiritual Retreats 
conducted by the Fathers of this Society, in every language, in every country, 
and almost every town of Christendom. We are glad to sec this valuable work 
published in our country and tongue, and feel assured it will be heartily 
welcomed by the multitudes who are familiar with it, if in no other way, at 
least from the free use which is made of it in the Jesuit Missions, forming, 
as it does, the basis of all those inspiriting exercises which constitute a 
spiritual vetreat . — Catholic Mirror. 

This is the first American edition of this celebrated work, which has been 
translated into nearly all the European languages. It supplies a want long 
felt in America. It is an excellent book of Meditations for the family, but it is 
particularly adapted for those atteuding Retreats or Missions, especially those 
given by the Jesuits, whose method this is. We cannot too strongly recommend 
this book to the Catholic public — New York Talht. 

This is a timely publication of the Meditations of St. Ignatius, and the Catholic 
community aro indebted to the Philadelphia publisher for bringing the work 
within their reach. In Europe, where it is well known, it would be superfluous 
to do more than call attention to the fact of a new edition being published ; but 
inasmuch as American Catholics have not had an opportunity of becoming very 
familiar with the work, it may not be out of place to say a few words concern- 
ing it. 

The Meditations are twenty-two in number, each divided into three parts, and 
in each division the subject is viewed, as it were, from a different point of view, 
the last being always the most striking. Death, Judgment, Hell, and Heaven, 
the Mysteries of the Saviour’s Life, and the Happiness of Divine Love — these 
are the subjects of the Saint’s meditations, and every consideration germain to 
such topics calculated to excite the feelings or influence the judgment, is brought 
before the reader in simple, forcible language, or impressed on the mind by 
means of a striking anecdote or opposite illustration. The volume is thickly 
6trewn with quotations from sacred and patritic writings, and the whole range 
of profane history is laid under contribution to furnish material wherewith to 
point a moral or enforce a truth. 

No Catholic family should he without this book, and no Catholic library 
should be depending on one copy. It is a noble edition to the ever-increasing 
6tock of Catholic devotional literature, and we hope the publisher’s judicious 
venture wl’ 1 be successful. V r e must not omit to mention that the publication 
has received the official sane ? ‘on of the Right Rev. Bishop of Philadelphia. — 
Metropolitan Record. 


Ik^accrdos Sandificatus; or, discourses on 
tlse Mass and Office, 

With a Preparation and Thanksgiving Jwfore and after Mass for every 
aay in the week Translated from tlio Italian of St. Alphonsus Ligouri, 

By the Eev. James Jones. 

1 voL ISmo. 

Price — Neatly bound in c' : fh, 


80 3ts. 


Published by Peter F, Cunningham, 


lie Fife of St. Teresa. 

Written by herself. 

Translated from the SpanisL by Key. Canon Dalton, and published with 
the approbation of the Rijlit R*ss. Bishop of Philadelphia. 1 vol. 


12mo., neatly bound in cloth. 

Price — In cloth $1.53 

In cloth, gilt edge 2.00 


lie Fife of St. Catherine of Sienna. 

By Ble-ssed Baymond of Capua, her Confessor. 

Translated from the French, by the Ladies of the Sacred Heart. With 
the approbation of tne Bight Rev. Bishop of Philadelphia. 1 vol. 


12mo., neatly bound in cloth. 

Price — In cloth /. $1.50 

In cloth, gilt edge. 2.00 


ife of St. Margaret of Cortona. 

Translated from the Italian, by John Gilmary Shea, and published with 
the approbation of the Right Rev. Bishop of Philadelphia. 1 vol. 16mo., 
neatly bound in cloth, gilt backs. 

Price $1.00 


lie Fife of St. Angela Merict ©f Brescia* 
Foundress of tlie Order of St. Ursula. 

By the Abbe Parenty. 

With a History of the Order in Ireland, Canada and the United States, 
by John Gilmary Shea. Published with the approbation of the Right 
Jtev. Bishop of Philadelphia. 1 vol. lOrno., cloth, gilt back. 

Price fi.oo 


lie Fife of Blessed Mary Ann of Jesus* 

de Parades y Flores. “ The Lily of Quito.” 

By Father Joseph Boero, S. J. 

Translated from the Italian by a Father of the Society of Jesus, and pub- 
lished with the approbation of the Right Rev. Bishop of Philadelphia. 
1 vol. 16mo., neatly bound in cloth, gilt back. 

Price fi.oo 


lie Fife of St. Rose of Fima. 

Edited by the Dev Frederick William Faber, D D., and published with 
the approbation of the Right R v Bishop of Philadelphia. 1 vol., large 
16mo , neatly bound in clot l, giit back. 

Price— Only $1.00 


216 South Third Street, Philadelphia, 


7 


H lie Life of St. CeclSla, 

Virgin and Martyr. 

Translated frtm tlie French of Father Gireranger, and published with tht 


approbation of the Right Rev. Bishop of Philadelphia. 

1 vol. 12mo. 

Price— la cloth. . * $1.50 

la cloth, gilt edge 2.00 


The above is one of the most interesting works which has been issued for some 
time from the Catholic press in this country. The life ana martyrdom of Saint 
Cecilia, is itself, one of the mest beautiful chapters in the history of the Church. 
The a ;c *mt of it by Gueranger is most touching. It combines all the spright- 
liness *,f romance, with tne solid truth of history. The author is one of the 
most learned a chseoiogista that has appeared in this century, and is well known 
for many Jearneu works. In Connection with the life of 6c. Cecilia, he gives a 
graphic account of the state of the Churcn at the time of the persecutions under 
the Roman Emperors. There s a beautiful description of the catacombs and of 
the usages of the Christains in paying honor to the martyrs. In reading his work 
wesee.u to be transferred to tneir u»ys. The character of St. Cecilia is drawn 
out in the most vivid colors, though the account is almost entirely taken f.om 
the ancient Acts, the authenticity of which is ab y vindicated by the learned 
author. He then gives an account of the Church, built at her own request on 
the spot wnere she suffered. This goes over a period of over sixteen hundred 
years. It has oeen, uu ring all that time, one of the most clearly cherished sanctu- 
aries of Rome. The incidental accounts of various matters connected with the 
history of the £aint and her Church, are themselves sufficient to give great inter- 
est to tlie volume, we hardly know which to admire most in this work — the 
information imparted on many most interesting topics, the healthy lone of the 
work, so well calculated to enliven faith, and cherish a devout spirit, or the 
beauty of the style of the author who has weaved the whole into s > interesting 
a narrative, that no romance can vie with this truthful account of the patroness 
of song . — Baltimore Catholic Mirror. 

We are glad to see that the American public have been favored with this very 
interesting work. While the name of the author is a guarantee for historical 
accuracy, and learned research, the period of which it treats is one of great in- 
terest to the Catholic. In these pages one can learn the manners and customs of 
the early Christians, ana their sufferings, and gain no little insight into their 
daily life. The devotion to the Saints is becoming daily more practical, and we 
are glao to see revived the memory of the ancient heroes and heioines whom tlie 
Church has honored in a special manner. The mechanical execution of the 
American edition is very good . — Catholic Standard. 

Wc cannot sufficiently admire and commend to the attention of our readers, 
young and old, this delightful work. The tenderness and exquisite refinement 
aua purity vvnich surround, like a veil, the character of tae lovely St. Cecilia, 
serve to throw into stronger relief the unfaltering courage by which she won tno 
- crown of martyrdom. The author has made use of all the authentic and import- 
ant details connected with the life ami death of the Sainr, following the most 
approved authorities. The discoveries of her tomb in the ninth and sixteenth 
centuries form not the least interesting portion of the work, and the description 
of the churcn, which was once ner dwelling and the witness of her sufferings and 
triumphs, brings those scenes so vividly before us that Cecilia seems to belong 
as much to our own day as to the period when young, beautiful, wealthy and 
accomplished, the virgin bride of the noble Valerian laid down her life for Lha 
martyr’s crown of faith. — N. Y. Tablet. 


8 


Published by Peter F. Cunningham, 


Mr. Cunningham, of Philadelphia, has earned a new claim on our gratitude t>y 
publishing the LIFE OF SAINT CECILIA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR. The 
Acts of her martyrdom are a monument of the wonderful ways of God, and s most 
sweet record of Cnristian heroism, heavenly love, and prodigious consvancy. 
Her very name has inspired Christianity for fifteen centuries, with courage, and 
the noblest aspirations. The work is a translation from the French of prosper 
Gueranger. We have had only time to read the title, preface, and a few pages 
before going to pres3. But we can say this much, that it was a very happy 
thought to undertake this translation, and we know of no other book w<* should 
like to see in tne hands of Catholics so much as the LIFE OF SAINT CECiLI A, 
VIRGIN AND MARTYR .— Boston Pilot. 

Mr. Peter F. Cunningham has just brought out, in very admirable style, the 
“ Life of St. Cecilia,” from the French of the celebrated bum. Gueranger. It 
is difficult to film a more delightful volume than this. Its subject is one of 
the most attractive in all the annals of the Church ; and its author one of the 
most pious and gifted of modern French writers : the result is one of the most 
charming contributions ever made to Catholic literature. As intimated, the 
publisher has done his part in printing, in paper, and in binding. We rc turn 
him thanks for a copy . — Philadelphia Universe, Oct. G. 

This is a most interesting volume, truer than history and stranger than fic- 
tion. The author does not oonfine himself to the detafis of the Saint’s life and 
martyrdom, but describes, with the faithfulness and minuteness of an antiquary, 
the wonders of Imperial and Christian Rome— the catacombs, the basilicas, the 
manners of the times, the persecutions of the Christians, etc. The book is 
handsomely got up, and enriched with a portrait of fct. Cecilia seated at her 
harp. — W. Y. Met • Record. 

We have received this beautiful and very interesting life of one of the most 
beautiful Saints of the Church. Tne reading public ought to be much obliged 
to the Publisher for giving them such a work. It abounds in the sublimest 
sentiments of divine love and human devotion, such as Catholics would expect 
from the life of such a Saint ; and at the same time portrays the combat of rising 
Christianity and decaying paganism in the livelist colors. Such works as this 
form the proper staple of reading for all who desire to become acquainted with 
the periou to which it refers, ana who cannot afford to purchase or peruse the 
more profound works of our Historians. — Western N. Y. Catholic. 

The name of the learned and religious Abbot of Solesmes Dom. Gueranger, 
was long since maoe familiar and pleasant to us, in the pages of Chevalier 
Bonnetty’s learned periodical, the Annales d * Philosophic Chretienne, pub- 
lished in Paris. In the pages of his “Life of St. Cecilia” — which we have not 
met with in the French, — we have the same high talent devoted to other than 
liturgic themes. This is an admirable volume, well translated. The quiet 
style in which the story is told of the great honor with which Catholic ages 
have crowned St. Cecilia, is charming. — N. Y. Freeman's Journal. 



3fe of Sf. Agnes of Rome, Virgin and Martyr. 


Published with the approbation of the Right Rev. Bishop of Philadelphia. 
1 vol. ISmo., neatly bound in cloth, with a beautiful steel plate Por- 
trait of the “ Youthful Martyr of Rome.” 

Price 50 cents. 

I^ffan’s Contract wMIi God fisa Baptism. 


Translated from the French by Rev. J. M. Cullen. 1 vol., 18mo. 

Price - 50 cemt* 


9 


Published by Peter F, Cunningham, 


of St. Aloysios Gosazaga, 
Of the Society of Jesus. 


Edited by Edward flealy Thorapson. Published with the approbation of the 
Rj. Re v. Bishop of Philadelphia. 1 vol., 12mo., neat cloth, beveled, $1.50. 
* Cloth, Gilt, $2.00. 

-$3“ This is the best life of the Saint yet published in the English language, 
and should' be read by both the young and old. 


JL lie Life of Blessed JoEm BercEimans 


of the Society of Jesus. 


Translated from the French. With an appendix, giving an account of 
the miracles after death, which have been approved by the Holy See. 
From the Italian of Father Borgo, S. J. Published with the approbation 
of the Right Rev. Bishop of Philadelphia. 1 vol. 12mo. 


Price— In cloth $1.50 

In cloth, gilt edge $2.00 


lie Life of St. Stanislas Kostka of tlie Society 
of Jesus. 

By Edward Healy Thompson, A.M. 

Published with the approbation of the Right Rev. Bishop of Philadelphia. 


lvol. 12mo. Cloth extra beveled $150 

Cloth full edges .. $2.00 


The Society of Jesus, laboring in all things for s the “ Greater glory of God,” 
has accomplished, if not more, as much, towards that pious object, as ever did 
any Institution of our holy religion. Actuated by that sublime and single 
motive, it has given the world as brilliant scholars, historians and men of 
science in all departments, as liavo ever yet adorned its annals. Nor is this by 
any means its greatest boast ; it is what has been achieved by the Society in the 
advancement of Catholicity and sanctity, that makes the brightest gem in its 
coronet. It is in that, that it is most precious in the sight of the angels of God ; 
it is for that its children will sing with them a new canticle on high. It has 
peopled heaven with a host of sainted choristers, many of them endowed with 
a world-wide fame for sanctity, and many, like Blessed Berchraans, known to 
but few beyond the pale of her order. This saintly youth, like Sc. Aloysius 
and St. Stanislaus, died young, but a model of that true wisdom which never 
loses sight of the end for which man is created. The work before us be&uti- 
fully describes the virtues, and the exemplary life and practices of this pious 
youth, and is richly entitled to a place in every Catholic library.— Catholic 
Mirror. 

Mr. P. F. Cunningham, of Philadelphia, may well rejoice, in his Catholic 
heart, for having given us this work, the perusal of which must needs be the 
source of immense good. No be .ter work can be placed in the hands of Re- 
ligious novices Perhaps no other book has fired those privileged souls with 
more fervid aspirations towards attaining tho perfection proper of their reli- 
gious professions. A perfect pattern is placed before them, and whilst the 
heart s drawn towards it with admiring love, the reader canmt allege any 
honest c^nse whereby to exense himself from following the noble example 
placed before him. Blessed Berchmans teaches, by his own life, that perfec- 
tion is to be attained in the fa thfnl and conscientious discharge of the duties of 
one’s daily life, whatever its circumstances may be. An excellent, most ex- 
•elleut book this will also prove for sodalists,— Boston Pilot. 


10 Published by Peter F. CarLiingham, 


This is ‘he fullest and host lift- published of this remarkable servant of God. 
John Berchmans lived at the beginning of the seventeenth century. He died 
a* Itonio, : n his twenty-third year — a model of purity and devotion. We can- 
not betiet notice this volume than by copying the opening words of the Brief of 
his Beatification, pronounced by the Holy Father, last year: 

“As youth is the foundation of manhood, and men do not readily In after life 
turn from tho path they have trod from earliest years ; that there be no excuse 
on plea of age or strength, for swerving from tlio ways of virtue, the All-wisa 
Providence has ordered it that there should bloom, from time to time, in the 
Church, one and another yoidh eminent for sanctity, realising the eulogium : 
‘Made perfect in a short space, be fulfilled a long time.’ ” 

As such an one, the life of Blessed John Berchmans commends itself to the 
6tudy especially of pious youth. — N. Y. Freeman's Journal. 

It is unnecessary for us to say anything In recommendation of a life of the 
Blessed Berchmans. The devotion so long entertained for him, now solemnly 
approved by the Church, will oause many to read with delight and spiritual 
profit, ibis authentic account of his l ie and virtues. The Bishops of Belgium 
expressed the r ardent wishes for the beatification of blessed Jobu, hoping that 
through his intercession the great Works of the Christian education of youth, 
Which they are so nobly carrying on, might be farthered and made more and 
more successful la the United States there is a similar work tobedone, and 
we hope and pray that the blessed Berchmans will not forget our wants in his 
supplicatious to the Father ot Mercies. 

We recommend the work before ns to the young especially, among whom it 
should be widely circulated . — Catlmlic Standard. 

I lie Life of St. Charles Bot romco. 

By Edward. Healey Thompson. 

Published with the approbation of the Eight Rev. Bishop of 
Philadelphia lvol. 12tno. 


Cl< th, extra beveled... ....£L £0 

“ ‘‘ gilt edge. *2 CO 


1 he Sodalist'S Friend. A Beautiful Collec- 
tion of Meditations and Prayers. 

Compiled and translated from approved sources, for the use of members 
and leaders of confraternities. 1 vol. ISmo., neatly bound. 


Price — In cloth 80 cents. 

Eoan embossed $1.00 

Embossed gilt 1.50 

Full gilt edges and sides 2.00 

Turkey, superior extra 3.00 


nji 

1 he Month of the Sacred Heart. 

Arranged for each day of the month of June Containing also the Arch 
Confraternity of Sacred Heart, and Father Borgo’s Novena to the Sacred 
Heart of Jesus. With the appiobation of the Right Rev. Bishop c J 
Philadelphia. I neat rol. 24ni' Cloth, gilt back. 

Price. 


.50 cents. 


216 South Third Street, Philadelphia. 11 


rp 

he Month of St. Joseph. 

Arranged for each day of the month of March. Frcm the French of tha 
Eev. Father Iluguet, of the “Society of St. Mary.” Published with the 
approbation of the Right Rev. Bishop of Philadelphia. 1 neat vol. 
18mo. Cloth, gilt back. 

Pries 50 cents. 

An attentive perusal « f this little work will prove, with a sincere utterance of 
the prayers contained therein, a powerful moans to reform one’s life. Let us 
secure tho friendship- and intercession of St. Joseph. He is the foster-father of 
our Saviour. He can say a good word for us, indeed. O, the beauty of Catholic 
devotions! how its practices, when in direct connection with the life and teach- 
ings of Jesus Christ, fill the soul with happiness and hope ! — Boston Pilot. 

This will be found to be an interesting book to all the children of Mary, and 
the lovers of her pure, saintly, and glorious spouse, Sf. Joseph. It is a good 
companion to the lovely “Month of May .” — New York Tablet. 

rp 

JL lac Little Otfaccs. 


Translated from the French by the Ladies of the Sacred Heart. Contain- 
ing the Little Offices of tho Sacred Heart, Holy Ghost, Immaculate Con- 
ception, Our Lady of Seven Dolours, Most Holy Heart of Mary, Holy 
Angel Guardian, St. Joseph, St. Louis de Gonzaga, St. Stanislaus. St. 
Jude, Apostle. To which is added a Devout Method of Hearing Mass. 
Published with tho approbation of the Right Rev. Bishop of Philadelphia. 
1 vol. 18mo. Neatly bound. 

Price 50 cents. 


rp 

JL lie Religious Soul Elevated to Perfection, 
by the Exercises of an Interior Life. 

% . 

From the French of the AbbS Baudrand, author of “The Elevation of 
Soul.” 1 vol. lSmo. 

Price - - 60 cents. 



a Mere dc Biea. 


A beautiful and very edifying work on the Glories and Virtues of the 
Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God ; from the Italian of Father Alphonse 
Capecelatro, of the Oratory of Naples, with an Introductory Letter of 
Father Gratry, of the Paris Oratory. Published with the approbation of 
the Right Rev. Bishop of Philadelphia. 1 neat vol. ISmo. Cloth. 

Price — 60 cents. 

The Roman Catacombs; or. Some account 
oftbe Burial Places of the Early Chris- 


tians in Rome. 


By Eev. J. Spencer Northcoatc, M. A , wiih Maps and various Illustra- 
tions. Published with the approbation of the Right Rev Bishop of Phila- 
delphia. 

1 vol., 16mo., neatly bound in cloth, gil . back. 

Price $1.00 


12 Published by Peter F, Cunningham, 


JLiettcrs A«ldresse«l to a Protestant Friend. 


By a Catholic Priest With a Preface by the Right Rev. Bishop Becker. 
1 vol. 12mo. Cloth extra beveled..... $l.‘-5 

C/Siarily and Trntlla$ or, Catholics not un* 
diarMaMc in saying tliat None are 
Saved out of the Catliolic Church. 


By the Rev. Edward Hawarden. 

Published with the approhatiou of the Right Rev. Bishop of Philadelphia. 

1 vol. 12rao. 

Price— Neatly bound in cloth..., $1.25 

In this hook, the learned and earnest author discusses a question of vital im* 
portance to all, viz.: Is there salvation out of the Catholic Communion? At 
the present moment, when the strongest proof of Christianity, in the popular 
opinion, is a belief that every road leads to heaven, and that every man who 
lives a m'oral life is sure to be saved, the very title of this book will grate 
harshly on many ears. To such we wyuld say— Read the work, and learn that 
“ a charitable judgment may he very unfavorable, and a favorable judgment 
may bo very uncharitable ” “Charity and Truth” is the work of one of the 
ablest controversialists and most learned theologians of the Catholic Church in 
England. The method adopted in “Charity and Truth” is the catechetical, and 
to help the memory the questions are fet in large characters at the top of each 
page. In the preface, the Reverend reviewer takes up and disposes of six 
vulgar errors,— 1st. That it is charity to suppose all men saved whose life is 
morally honest. 2d. That the infinite goodness of God will not suffer the 
greater part of mankind to perish. 3d. That it is charity to believe the Jews 
and Turks arc saved. 4th. That if I judge more favorably of the salvation of 
another man than he does of mine, I am the more charitable of the two. 5th. 
That, setting all other considerations apart, if Protestants judge more favor- 
ably of the salvation of Catholics than Catholics do of theirs, Protestants are 
on the more charitable side. 6th. That lie is uncharitable whoever supposes 
that none are saved in any other religion unless they are excused by invinci- 
ble ignorance. — Met. Record. 

We owe Mr. Cunningham an apology for not having noticed this work ere 
this ; and we should have done it more readily, as we hail with utmost pleasure 
the republication of one of thoso works written by the uncompromising cham- 
pions of the Church during the hottest days of persecution and Catholic disa- 
bilities in England. We have often wished that somo of the learned professors 
of the illustrious College of Georgetown would select from among the numerous 
collection they have of books written by English missionaries during the first 
two centuries of persecution in England, some such work as “Charity and 
Truth,” and republish them iu this country. These works will not please, of 
course, our milk and water Catholics. But, after all, they arc the real kind of 
works we need. It is high time that we should take the aggressive. We have 
put up long enough with Protestant attacks. We owe nothing to Protestants. 
We have allowed them to say all kind of things to us. We have received with 
thanks the benign condescension with which they grant us the merit of there 
being some good people among the Catholics, and that somo bishops and priests 
ai - c clever, in spite of their being Catholics. We have bowed so low as to kiss 
the right hand that has patted us ou the head, while the left was lifting its 
thumb to the nose of the smiling but double-hearted ca*esser. It is high time, we 
say, that we should do away with this sycophancy. It is high time that war 
was carried to the heart of the enemy’s country. Hence we are thankful to the 
American editor of this work. Let Catholics buy it, lead it, aud then give it 
to their Protestant acquaintances .— Boston Pilot. 


CATHOLIC TALES 


IBeeeli BlniF. A Tale of the South Before tine 
War. 


By Fannie Warner. 

1 vol. 12mo. Cloth extra beveled $1.50 

• Cloth gilt edge .’...$2.00 

emcliffe. 

A Catholic Tale of great merit. 1 volume 12mo. 

Price — Cloth, extra beveled no 

Cloth, gilt edges 2 00 


T. 


ie Mosi targes Legacy. 

A Charming Catholic Tale, by Florence McCoomb, (Miss Meline, of Washing'' 
ton,) 1 volume, small 12 mc. “ 


G 


Price — Cloth, exti a beveled 1:1.00 

Cloth, gilt 

race Morton ; or, The Inheritance. 


A new and beautiful Catholic tale, written by Miss Meaney of Philadelphia. 

1 vol., large ISmo., neatly bound in cloth. 

Price $l.oo 

This is a pleasing story, instructive as well as amusing, and worth an espe- 
cial place in the library of youthful Catholics. It depicts with rare skill the 
trials and sacrifices which attend the profession of the true Faith, and which 
are so often exacted of us by the fostering solicitude of our Mother the Church. 
— Catholic Mii~ror. 


A chastely written Catholic tale of American life, which is most pleasantly 
narrated ; and conveys much that is instructive and elevating . — Irish American. 

TP lie Knout; a Tale of Poland. 


Translated from the French by Mrs. J. Sadlier. 

1 vol., large ISmo., neatly bound in cloth, gilt back, with frontispiece. 

Price $1.00 


aura and Anna; 


or, Tlie Effect of Faitli on 


(he Character. 

A beautiful tale, translated from the French by a young lady, a Graduate 
of St. Joseph’s, Emmittsburg. 

1 vol. ISmo., neatly bound in cloth. 

Price 60 cents, 

rfn 

J. lie Confessors of Connauglit ; or, The Ten- 


ants of a Lord Bishop. 

A tale of Evictions in Ireland. By Miss Meaney, author of “ Grace Mor- 
ton.” 

Small 12mo., cloth. 

Price $100 

Read this bov/k and you will have a feeling knowledge of the sufferings of 
our brethren in the Isle of Sainte . — Baton Pilot. 

This is a story of Irish evictions, founded upon well-known facts. The de* 


14 Published by Peter F, Cunningham, 


plorable Infatuation of Lord Plunkett, Protestant Bishop of Tuam and landlord 
of a great portion of the town of Partry and its vicinity, is perhaps still fresh 
In the memory of our readers. 

That a man not deficient in intellectual attainments, and really anxious to 
stand well with his tenantry, should have turned a deaf ear to all generous 
remonstrances, and should have persisted in believing that in this nineteenth 
century the dispossession of a multitude of helpless tenants at will in the midst 
of winter, was on the whole a good expedient for making the evictor’s “ re- 
ligion popular among the victims,” is one of the most impressive illustrations 
we have ever met with of the incurableness of judicial blindness, when con- 
tracted in opposing the Catholic Church. 

This is the reflection forced upon the reader of the “Confessors of Connaught," 
a talo put together with remarkable skill. — Tablet. 

We have read this work with great satisfaction. What pleases us most is to 
find that those noble Irish peasantry who, for the sake of their religion, were 
willing to endure the loss of homes, food and raiment, and all earthly com- 
forts, have found a worthy champion to perpetuate the memory of their noble 
sacrifices. God bless the noble and accomplished lady who has undertaken this 
glorious task . — Baltimore Catholic Mirror. 

nr 

JL lie Young Catholic’s Library. 


In neat ISmo. vols., cloth. Each cents. 

The following volumes are uow ready : 

THE YOUNG CATHOLIC’S LIBRARY. 

I. Cottage Evening Tales for Young People. Six Charming Tales; 
one for each day of tho week. 1 vol. 18mo. Neat Cloth, 60 cts. 

Children of the Valley ; or, Tho Ghost of the lluins. A beautiful 
Catholic Tale, from tho French. 1 vol. ISmo Neat Cloth, 60 cts. 

3. May Carleton’s Story ; or, The Catholic Maiden’s Cross. And, The 
Miller’s Daughter; or, The Charms of Virtue. Two lovely Tales in 1 
vol. 18mo. Neat Cloth, 50«cts. 

4. Philip Hartley ; or, A Boy's Trials and Triumphs. A Tale by the 
author of “Grace Morton,” etc. 1 vol. ISmo. Neat Cloth, 50 cts. 

5. Count Leslie ; or, The Triumph of Filial Piety. A Catholic Tale of 
great interest. 1 vol. 18mo. Neat Cloth, 60 cts. 

6. A Father’s Tales, of the French Revolution. Delightful Stories for 
Catholic Youth. Pirst series. 1 vol. 18mo. Neat Cloth. 50 cts. 

7. Iialph Berrien, and other Tales of the French Revolution. Second 
series. 1 vol. 18mo. 50 cts. 

8. Silver Grange. A charming American Catholic Tale. And, Phillip* 
pine; or, The Captive Bride. Both in 1 vol. 18mo. 50 cts. 

9. Helena Butler, a Story of the Rosary. 1 vol. 18mo. 50 cts. 

10. Charles and Frederick. A beautiful Story, by Rev. John P. 
Donnollon. 1 vol. 18mo. 60 cts. 

II. The Beau forts, a Story of the Alleghanies. 1vol. 18mo. 50 cts. 

12. Lauretta and the Fables. A charming little Bock for Young 
People. 1 vol. 18mo. 50 cts. 

13. Conrad and Gertrude , the Little Wanderers. A lovely Swiss 
Tale. 1 vol. 18mo. 50 cts. 

14. Three Petitions, a Tale of Poland. 1 vol. l?mo. 50 cts. 

15. Alice ; or, The Roso of tho Black Forest. A German Story. 1 vol. 
18mo. 60 cts. 

16. Caroline; or. Self-Conqnc-st. 1 vol., 18mo. 50 cts. 

17. Tales of the Commandments, lvol., ISmo. 50 cts. 

18. The Seven Corporal Works of Mercy. 1 vol., 18mo. 

19. Elinor Johnson. Founded on Facts, and a beautiful Catholic Tale. 1 
18mo. Cloth. 50 cts. 

20. The Queen’s Daughter ; or the Orphan of La Granga. 1 vol. l£n*» 

50 cts. , _ 

81. Hetty Homer; or Tried, but True. A charming Tale, by Fannie 
Warner. 60 cts. 

22. The Beverly Family. A Tale by Hon. Jos. R. Chandler. 1 vol. 
ISmo. 50 cts. 


216 South Third Street, Philadelphia. 1 5 

l^ieandroj or, the Sign of the Cross. 

A Catholic Tale. 1 vol. 12mo. Cloth. 


Extra beveled, •jilt centre. Price $1.50 

“ gilt edge. Price $2.00 


A distinguished Priest, speaking of this work, says: I am glad you are 
bringing out Leandro. It contains instructions on most important subjects, 
suitable to the present time, which cannot be too widely circulated or too ear- 
nestly pressed.” 


-Ajphonso; or, the Triumph of Religion. 

1 vol. small 12 mo. neat cloth. Price $1.00 

We have the pleasure to annouuce another of Mr. Cunningham’s works, Al- 
phonso, or the Triumph of Religion. It contains everything calculated io instruct 
and edify at the same time, and we think it a work that will be read with 
great pleasure by ail our readers .— Spare Hour*. 

The scenes of this book are laid in France, but the moral applies with equal 
force to our own country. The work is intended to shew the evil effects of an 
irreligious education, and does so with great force and effect. The tale is from 
the pen of a gifted Irish lady, and well worth reading. Those who are sluggish 
in their response to our Most Rev. Archbishop’s recent call in behalf of an In- 
dustrial School, should take a lesson from this valuable little book. --LaUimora 
Catholic Mirror. 


A History of England, 

For The Youno. 


Compiled by the Sisters of the Tloly Child Jesus, for the use of their 
schools in England, and republished for the use of the Catholic Schools in 
the United States. 

1 vol. 12 mo 80 cts 


This is an admirable compendium of English history, deserving a place in all 
our schools It is well arranged for a class book, having genealogical tables, a 
good index, and questions for each chapter .— Catholic Mirror. 

This is a most valuable little book, giving just sufficient information to interest 
and attract the young without wearying them with superabundance of dates which 
thev rarelv remember, and dry statistics which th«.y never read unless compelled 
to do c o fa mo t injudicious process.) while by means of excellent genealogical 
»nd chronological taoles, it furnishes to those disposed to seek it, ample instruc- 
tion and h will most probably inspire in the mind of an intelligent child, the 
wish to read more extended works. We axe pleasure in commencing this 
« History of England” to the attention of all those interested in provioing agree- 
.ble means of improvement to children.— .V Y. Ihiblrt. 

M - Peter F. Cunningham, 216 South Third street, has published a history of 
En<r’and f ,r tlie young^wntten by a religiouse. It is properly a narrative hi*- 
torv, ami is in such a stvle as is most calculated t . attract and retain the atten- 
tion of the you.hfui mind. I» supplies a want which has never befo e been 
ufficiently met, ani which has long been needed m our schools. Linga a s and 
Macauley’s histories are well adapted to more advanced pupils, but are not unable 
or beginners. This history has already been introduced into some of our Catholic 
choc Is, and it is the design to make it a text book for all af them.--PAi<«<teIjJ/u* 
Vnic*rtn. 


16 


Published by Peter F. Cunn'ngham. 


PRAYER BOOKS. 


FLOWER GARDEN. 

An admirable small Prayer Book. Contains Morning and Evening 
Prayers, Mass Prayers, Ordinary of the Mass, (in Latin and English,) 
Vespers, Forty Hours Devotion, Stations of the Cross, and a. great va« 
riety of other "practical devotions, all together forming the most com* 
plete small Prayer Book yet printed. 1 vol., 32mo. 

No. 1, Neat cloth, variety of nice bright colors $0 45 

2, Roan, embossed, gilt edge 0 SO 

3, “ “ “ and clasp 1 oo 

4, “ full gilt edges and sides l 00 

5, “ “ “ and clasp 1 25 

FLOWER GARDEN, 32mo., fine edition , printed on the finest quality 

of paper, and made up in the neatest and very best manner : 

No. 6, Turkey, super extra, full gilt or plain sides, red 

or gilt edges stiff or flexible 52 50 

7, Turkey, super extra, full gilt or plain sides, red 

or gilt edges, with clasp 2 75 

8, Turkey, super extra, rims and clasp 4 00 

9, Calf, extra, stiff or flexible, very neat 2 75 

10, “ “ with clasp. 3 00 

11, “ “ rims and clasp 4 50 

12, Velvet, full ornaments, rims, clasps and ovals... 6 00 


LITTLE FLOWER GARDEN. 

A beautiful miniature Prayer Book. 4Smo. Containing a selection, 
of practical devotions, and made up in a variety of beautiful styles 
of binding, 

No. 1, Neat cloth, variety of plain and bright colors. . .$0 20 


2, Roan, embossed, gilt edges 0 40 

3, “ full gilt edges and sides 0 50 

4, •* tucks, very neat 0 60 

5, Turkey, super extra, full gilt or plain sides, red 

or gilt edges 1 £0 

6, Turkey, super extra, full gilt or plain sides, with 

flue gilt clasp.... 1 75 

7, Turkey, super extra, rims and clasp 2 50 

8, Calf, extra, red or gilt edges, very neat 1 75 

9 , “ “ “ “ with clasp 2(0 

10, “ “ rims and clasp 3 00 


DAILY DEVOTIONS FOR CATHOLICS. 


An admirable small Prayer Book. 32mo., with very large type, 
(English,) good for the short-sighted, and for all who like to read with 
ease, without the necessity of using glasses. 


No. 1, Neat cloth, variety of nice bright colors $0 45 

2, Roan, embossed, gilt edge 0 80 

3, “ “ “ and clasp 100 

4, “ full gilt edges and sides 1 00 

5, “ “ “ “ and clasp 1 25 

6, Turkey, super extra, full gilt or plain sides, red 

or gilt edges, stiff or flexible 2 CO 

7, Turkey, super extra, full gilt or plain sides, red 

or gilt edges, with clasp 2 75 

8, Turkey, super extra, rims and clasp 4 00 

9, Calf, extra, stiff or flexible, very neat 2 75 

10, “ “ “ with clasp..... 3 00 

11, “ “ “ rims and clasp 4 50 


12, Velvet, full ornaments, rims, clasps and ova: 5 . .. 6 c« 


17 


216 South Third Street, Philadelphia, 


MANUAL OF DEVOTION. 

An excellent 32mo. Prayer Book, with illustrations of the Mass. 
No. 1. Neat cloth, a variety of plain and bright colors. $0 30 

2, Roan, embossed, gilt edges 0 CO 

3, “ ‘ “ and clasp 0 8) 

4, “ full gilt edges and 3idcs 0 8) 

5, “ *• •* “ and clasp 1 00 

c, Turkey, super extra, full gilt or plain sides 2 50 

7, “ - “ rims and clasp 3 10 

8, Calf, extra, stiff or flexible, bound very neat 2 75 

9, “ “ '* and clasp 3 io 

10, “ rims and clasp 4 00 

DAILY EXERCISE. 


A beautiful miniature Prayer Book. 48mo., with illustrations of the 
Mass. , 


No. 1, Neat cloth a variety of choice colors $0 20 

2, Roan, embossed, gilt edge 0 4) 

3, “ full gilt edge ami sides 0 50 

4, “ tucks, very neat 0 69 

5, Turkey, super extra 1 50 

6, “ tucks 1 50 

7, “ “ rims and clasp 2 50 

8, Calf, extra 1 75 

9, “ with clasp 2 CO 

10, “ rims and clasp 3 00 


The Hymn Hook. 

The Hj/mn-Book— 180th thousand— the most popular little Hymn Book 
ever published. Contains, also, Prayers for the Mass, Prayers for Con- 
fession and Communion, and Serving of Mass. 12 cents each, or $9 per 
hundred ; cloth, 20 cents, or $1 80 per dozen. 

The Gospels. 

For Sundays and Principal Festivals during the year, together with 
the Four Gospels of the Passion for Palm Sunday and Holy Week. 
1 vol. c2mo. Paper cover 10 cts , or per dozen, $i 10. 

Confirmation and Communion Certificates. 

The subscriber has had prepared very beautiful certificates of Confir- 
mation and First Communion, giving also exterior and interior views 
of the Cathedral of Philadelphia. These are the most beautiful certifi- 
cates ever published in this country, and are sold at low rates to the 
Reverend Clergy and others who buy in quantity. $3 00 per hundred. 

Angels’ Sodality. 

Manual of the Holy Angels' Sodality. Price, in cloth, flexible, $12 50 
per hundred, or $l ( 0 per dozen. 

Diplomas for Membership of the Angels' Sodality . Beautiful design. 
$10) per dozen. 

Blessed Virgin’s Sodality Diploma. 

A Very Beautiful Diploma for Members of the Sodality of the Blessed 
Virgin Mary, size of plate 15x20, has just been prepared by the under- 
signed Orders respectfully solicited. The name of the Church- *md. 
title of the Sodality inserted to order. 

Catechisms. 

Butler's large and small Catechisms. The general Catechism of the 
National Council. Tuberviile s Catechism, Dr. Doyle’s Catechisms, 
Fleury s Catechism and The Catholic Christian Instructed Supplied 
Wholesale and Retail. And many other Catholic Doctrinal Works. 

Orders respectfully solicited. 

PETER F. CUNNINGHAM, 

Publisher , 216 Si 1'hird St , Philctda. 













































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